The Edy Detachment
by Dr.Evil
Summary: The untold story of Edy Nelson and the impact that she and her unit has in Gallia's battle against the Empire in EWII. Chapter 18 The Edy Detachment must find a way to deal with Selvaria and Ty the Immortal. Can they do it?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - The Edy Detachment**

Fort Amatriain, the Gallian Army's main base. The afternoon was a quiet one, a rarity due to the fact that the Second Europan War had all but engulfed the small Principality of Gallia. Most of the Army and Militia's forces had been deployed to various regions throughout the country, with the exception of Squad 7 of the Militia, which had just returned from operations near the trade route to Randgriz, the Gallian Capital. Standing outside the Officer's Building were two members of that squad...

"It's been barely a day since the we helped out Presentwell Village and now the Captain wants to see you personally, Miss Edy?"

Private 1st Class Edy Nelson sighed. "That's what the message says Homer. I doubt it's a good thing though. I bet everyone put in their reports that I had acted irresponsibly or something. I'm sure Captain Varrot is gunna dismiss me from the squad for sure." She tugged on her left pigtail with a gloved hand.

Engineer Homer Peron gasped. "Oh please don't say such things Miss Edy! Who's gunna hit me if you're gone?!"

Edy giggled as she ran her fingers through Homer's dark blonde hair. "Oh I'm sure Jann would love to beat on you if you let him."

"P-please don't joke about that Miss Edy!" Homer pleaded as he backed up a few steps. "Anyway isn't it time for your meeting with the Captain? It wouldn't be smart to keep her waiting."

Edy looked up at the white building. "Alright, Homer...Wish me luck darling..."

Homer flashed the shocktrooper a thumbs-up as Edy began to walk up the steps to the building. "I'll be waiting here for you Miss Edy."

As Edy began to slowly walk through the halls of the Officer's Building she began to wonder what she would do if she were dismissed. Go back to her small hometown and resume her semi-celebrity lifestyle there? When she had first joined the Militia, that had always been her intention, but after surviving countless battles with the many people she had met from Squad 7... She wasn't so sure thats what she wanted out of life.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly found herself in front of the door to Captain Varrot's Office. After a few hesitant moments she lightly knocked on the door. "Come in." Answered a voice from within. Edy turned the doorknob and slowly creaked the door open. Inside she saw Captain Eleanor Varrot sitting behind her desk, looking over a few pieces of paper.

_Probably reports about me..._ thought Edy as she shut the door behind her.

"P-private First-Class Edy Nelson reporting ma'am..." Said Edy, clearly nervous.

"At ease." Said Captain Varrot. "Please, have a seat."

Edy quietly sat in the wooden chair that was located a few feet in front of the Captain's desk.

"I've finished going over the Squad's reports regarding the incident at Presentwell Village that you were a part of. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you were involved in this, considering Squad 7 was not supposed to be anywhere near the village to begin with."

"I-I can explain, Captain! Please!" Edy begged.

"That won't be necessary." Said Varrot, putting a hand up. "From what I've read, it seems that a small detachment of Imperial troops separated you and five others from the squad, and that you gave chase...Am I correct?"

"...Yes." Said Edy. "I thought it was a good idea at the time, given the situation."

"Good enough to put you and five of your squad-mates in an extremely hostile situation that could easily have claimed the lives of every one of you? And this isn't the first time Private. I don't think I have to remind you about your little escapade in Kloden when the Lieutenant and Sergeant Melchiott were separated from the squad. Or Fouzen. Or Marberry."

Edy sighed as she looked downward and covered her face with both of her hands. _This is it_, she thought as she felt tears well up. _Now she'll say that I'll be discharged and the curtain falls on my performance as a Squad 7 Militia Shocktrooper.._

"Normally, those kind of actions get people killed and cause missions to fail." continued Captain Varrot. "However, in your case, every single incident resulted with no casualties and improved the overall situation for the Squad. Also noted were the many civilian lives that had been saved."

Edy looked back up at the Captain. "You mean I'm not fired or anything?"

Captain Varrot laughed. "That discussion did come up, but the Lieutenant and I had a better idea. Seeing as how you seem to perform and lead well enough with a small number of soldiers, it's been decided that you will be given a small detachment from Squad 7 to do various tactical missions, ranging from basic reconnaissance to infiltration if the situation calls for it. If you're up to it that is."

"O-of course!" Edy gasped. "I'll be happy to!"

"Good. I'm promoting you to Corporal as well." The captain handed Edy a small folder with several papers inside. "The first thing I want you to do is to pick out five members, one of each class, to accompany you on your missions. The Lieutenant, Sergeant Melchiott, Corporal Stark, and Sergeant Potter can not be chosen for obvious reasons."

Edy nodded and took the folder, trying to process everything that was happening.

"I already have a mission ready for you, but there's no need to rush. Take a couple of days to figure out who you want and report back to me in 48 hours. That is all."

Edy saluted and rushed out of the office. _Wow, I totally didn't expect that! Homer will never believe this!_

As Edy left, Captain Varrot let out a sigh. _Whether it's skill or dumb luck that's gotten Edy this far... I __guess we'll find out soon enough._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Edy's Darlings**

"Promoted?! That's great Miss Edy!"

Edy nodded at Homer as the two of them began walking away from the Officer's Building.

"That's not all! They're letting me put a team together to go do secret missions too. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

"It sure does, Miss Edy." Homer agreed as they began to walk toward the barracks. "I look forward to hearing about your adventures."

Edy suddenly stopped and pounded the top of Homer's head with her right fist.

"Oww, what was that for?!" Asked Homer, rubbing his head.

"You didn't think I've forgiven you for that slap you gave me when we were evacuating that village did you?" Demanded Edy with an angry stare. "You're going on these missions with me!"

"B-but you were freaking out! Who knows what would've happened if I didn't!" Pleaded Homer. "Please don't kill me Miss Edy I...wait, what?"

"Captain Varrot told me told pick five people to be my supporting cast, if you will; one of each class. I need an engineer and you're an engineer. So it settled, right?"

Homer scratched his head. "But surely there's better engineers in the Squad than me...I mean, what about Dallas?"

Edy laughed as they neared the barracks. "She may be a fan of mine, but you know she doesn't do well around guys. Besides you're the only engineer around that could walk straight through a mine field and not even worry about getting blown up. Or shot at for that matter."

Homer let out a nervous laugh. "Well you know me. I'm a sucker for pain; I guess that's why I stick around you so much."

Edy glared at Homer for a moment, debating to herself whether or not she should hit him again. A few seconds later she decided against it and instead stood still for a moment.

"You okay?" Homer shot Edy a worried glance. "I didn't make you mad did I?"

Edy responded by grabbing his arm and walking away from the barracks. "I'm hungry. Let's go to the mess hall."

"Ooo I hope Alicia made some bread today!" Agreed Homer. "She makes the best bread ever!"

Five minutes later the two of them were sitting inside the mess hall with a basket full of of bread and a pitcher of iced tea that they had purchased inside. The bread wasn't baked by Alicia, but rather by the lancer Walter Nash, an accomplished baker himself. Edy always thought it strange that such a tough-looking guy was into things like cooking and gardening, but she was too hungry to care about that now. Besides, his food was pretty good.

Breaking apart a loaf and taking a piece, Edy began reading the papers that were contained within the folder that Captain Varrot had given her. The top page was her certification of her promotion to Corporal. Putting the page aside the next page was revealed to be a checklist of every member of Squad 7. _I didn't realize there were this many people in our squad. _She thought. _It's not going to be easy picking the other four members for my crew..._ Looking up from her papers she noticed that Homer had taken the seat directly across the table from her and that he was staring outside a nearby window as he ate a piece of bread.

"Hey snap out of it!" Said Edy.

Homer nearly dropped his bread as he shifted his focus back to Edy.

"What is it Miss Edy?"

"I need your help with something, so come sit next to me!" Edy pointed to the chair next to her.

A look of genuine surprise appeared on Homer's face.

"A-are you sure Miss Edy? If someone saw us, they might think that we're...you know..."

"Let them think whatever they want." Edy giggled. "If it gets people talking about me even more than before, that's okay."

Homer quickly occupied the seat that Edy had pointed to and looked at her with a confused expression.

"So what kind of help did you need me for?"

"I'm trying to figure out who else I should cast for other roles of my team." Edy showed Homer the paper with all of the Squad members' names on it. "I want you to help me!"

"But, um, isn't that something you do alone?" Asked Homer. "I mean you being the leader and all..."

"Don't be silly Homer." Said Edy as she grabbed another piece of bread. "I don't exactly know everyone in the squad so that's where I need your help, since you're involved with each class."

"I only pass out ammo mostly." Homer argued. "Often that's the only thing I have to do with a lot of the squad members...but I'll do my best to advise you."

"Well let's start with the easiest class then. Sniper." Edy looked over the short list of Squad 7's snipers.

"Cezary is a pretty good shot." Homer offered.

Edy shook her head, "He only cares about himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he threw one of us in front of a tank just to save his own skin."

"Well there's always Marina. She did pretty well in our standoff in the village."

Edy took another bite of bread as she contemplated adding Marina to the team. True, she was a bit of the anti-social type, but her skills were second to none, and as a sniper would most likely be by herself anyway.

"Sounds good." Edy circled Marina's name with the pen that had been included in the folder. "As for a lancer...It would be too mean to Jann to keep him away from Largo again so I'll choose someone else."

"Oohh I'm around the Lancers a lot since I'm always passing out Lancaar rounds to them." Said Homer. "There this one girl in the group...Elysse, I think. She was really nice to me every time I spoke to her and she never missed a shot that I've seen. Anyway I bet you she'd make a nice addition."

"That's it?" Asked Edy. "Not the most convincing endorsement there, Homer dear."

"Well all the the other Lancers are either so full of themselves they don't care about anything else, like Theold or, like Rosina, they're so completely biased against Darcsens it scares me..."

Edy sighed. She never understood why people hated Darcsens so much. She didn't care what race her fans, current or future, were. Sure she knew the stories about the Darcsen Calamity, but that wasn't enough of a reason to hate someone. Even after Welkin's sister, Isara, passed away at Marberry there were some squad members that weren't all that sorry she was gone.

"Miss Edy?"

"Oh. Right...Elysse...Sure." Edy's thoughts returned to her task. "Well we're almost done. This wasn't as hard as I thought."

"Yeah, but..." Homer pointed at the columns on the paper that contained the names of the Squad's scouts and shocktroopers. "We have a lot of scouts and troopers in our squad. Picking the right one might take a little longer."

Edy sighed as she took a drink from her glass. Homer was right; there were there were almost a dozen scouts and another dozen shocktroopers to choose from. _So many...how can I be sure I'll choose correctly?_

"Ah Edy there you are!" Said a voice nearby. Edy and Homer looked up and saw Welkin Gunther and Alicia Melchiott approaching their table.

"Oh, Welkin, Alicia, hi!" Edy flashed the pair a smile.

"Ah, hard at work I see." Said Welkin. "I take it you accepted the Captain's offer?"

Edy nodded. "Yep! I was just going over the list of squad members that the Captain gave me. I've managed to fill out most of the slots but now I'm stuck."

Alicia scratched her head. "Well that's good but...Homer, why are you here with her?"

"Oh uh, Miss Edy picked me to be the engineer." Homer felt his face turn red. "S-so I was just helping her out, that's all."

"Ooh 'advising~'" teased Alicia.

"Y-yeah that's all!"

"Leave him alone Alicia." Welkin laughed. "Anyway it's good that you're taking this so seriously, because being a leader isn't going to be easy."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Sighed Edy. "It's hard enough just trying to figure out which scout and trooper to pick out."

"Oh I can help you out with that!" offered Alicia. "I'm pretty familiar with all the scouts in our squad, so if you have a question about any of them, feel free to ask."

"Thanks Alicia!" Edy let out a sigh of relief. "It would be a big help."

"I'm somewhat familiar with most of the squad as well don't be afraid to ask me either." said Welkin.

"Well, grab a seat then you two." Said Edy. "This might take awhile though."

"Oh that's ok." said Alicia as she and Welkin each took a seat. "We don't have any plans for today."

"So who have you picked out so far Edy?" asked Welkin.

"Oh here's the list." Edy handed the Lieutenant the list of names. "I've circled the names of the ones I've chosen so far."

Welkin took the list and with Alicia looked over her selections. After a few minutes Welkin handed the list back to Edy.

"So far it looks good to me." he said.

Alicia nodded in agreement. "So how about we go over the scouts? Is there any in particular you'd like to know about?"

Edy and Homer looked over the list, trying to pick out a familiar name.

"Well Susie was with us in our last incident Edy." said Homer. "What about her?"

"She did an okay job, I'll give her that." agreed Edy. "What do you guys think?"

"To be honest I've had one major issue with her." sighed Alicia. "There's been a few occasions where she wouldn't fire at the enemy. I think it has to do with her pacifist beliefs..."

Welkin rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Yeah I can't really recommend her for the type of work you'll be doing."

Edy sighed and looked back at the list. Her eyes stopped at a familiar name.

"Ted...Ustinov. I only know of him by reputation... I hear he's a bit of a goof but does a fairly decent job."

Alicia nodded. "He is a bit of a clown, I'll admit it. However he's always been reliable on the field, and gets along with just about everyone."

"I don't know..." objected Welkin. "I heard he's taken an interest in Marina. I'm kinda worried that she'd shoot him if they were in the same place for very long."

"Oh, you know she wouldn't do that Welkin." said Edy. "At the very least he'll keep things interesting. I'll use him as my scout then."

"That just leaves one more Miss Edy!" said Homer. "Almost done!"

Edy nodded. "Well I know the shocktroopers well enough at least so I think I'll choose..."

"Wendy!" exclaimed Alicia, trying to keep a straight face.

"Yeah she'd be perfect!" laughed Welkin, unable to contain himself.

"Are you guys crazy?!" gasped Homer. "She's so scary... I remember when we were at Barious Desert she charged straight into a group of of Imperials screaming 'run away Imps; I'ma firin my gun!'...so scary."

"They were joking Homer, dear." sighed Edy. "Anyway I was thinking about adding Lynn; she did a good job back at the village and at Marberry."

"Oh? I thought you were going to choose Salinas." Alicia said. "You two seemed to make a good team."

Edy's face turned red. "We did until he began to completely ignore me!" she growled. "Stupid Freesia..."

"Um Edy?" Welkin waved his hand in front of Edy's face but it remained unchanged.

"Uh it's best not to bring up Salinas' name in front of her..." trailed Homer. "She still hasn't gotten over him yet...even if he is almost a decade older than..."

His sentence was interrupted by the back of Edy's hand crashing into his face, sending him tumbling backward over his chair, his legs and feet dangling over the back of the chair.

"Are you okay Homer?" gasped Alicia.

"Ha. Ha...yeah." said Homer, still sprawled backwards on the floor. "I guess I asked for that one..."

Edy quickly stood up and picked up her folder. "I have some other things to do... Thanks for your help..."

Alicia and Welkin watched as Edy stormed away.

"Salinas has been a sore point with her for awhile." explained Homer as he brushed himself off. "I do apologize... She's not like that...usually..."

"Well I hope I didn't make a mistake recommending Edy for her new task..." said Welkin as he and Alicia stood up to leave.

"Don't worry sir." said Homer. "I trust Miss Edy completely. Even if she does beat me up every now and then."

"Well you always were a strange one..." said Alicia. "See you around."

Homer waved goodbye to Alicia and Welkin and watched as they left the mess hall. _Miss Edy will prove to everyone that she has what it takes... _he thought to himself. _I must do my best to help her in anyway that I can!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Reflections and Encouragement**

Angry and embarrassed, Edy found herself running toward the docks at the far end of the base. The sea breeze always had a calming effect on her and she definitely needed calming down now. _Why did they have to bring up Salinas?! How could they not know he dumped me for Freesia over two weeks ago? Of course I never told anyone but...I've still got my pride dammit!_ Reaching the docks she stopped and sighed, looking for a suitable place to sit and clear her head. Spotting a grassy hill that overlooked the sea, she headed over to it. _Ah the breeze sure is nice,_ she thought as she felt the cool wind blow across her face. Edy set the folder on the ground and removed her gloves and set them atop the folder to keep it from blowing away in the breeze. She then untied the blue and gray colored ribbons from her pigtails and stared down at them, letting her silver colored hair blow freely with the wind. The ribbons were a gift from her best friend Ramona Linton, a fashion model and a scout in the squad. When Edy had joined Squad 7 she had kept her pigtails tied with purple ribbons but Ramona had given her a pair of ribbons from her personal wardrobe, explaining that 'the blue of our uniform and purple just do **not** go together' and that 'a girl's always gotta be in style, even in a war.' Edy smiled to herself as she recalled the memories of the fun times she had with Ramona. Times before the Battle of Marberry Beach...

The sound of approaching footsteps snapped Edy's attention back to the present and she turned to see Homer walking nervously towards her.

"I see you found me Homer dear." she said with a sad smile.

"I thought you might be here." said Homer. "Um...Sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have told them about Salinas..."

Edy shook her head. "It's alright. I shouldn't have hit you like that anyway, even if you did enjoy it. Which I know you did."

Homer laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah you got me there."

Edy sat down on the grass and looked back out at the sea.

"I want to ask you something Homer. And I want you to be honest with me."

"Of course Miss Edy!" said Homer, quickly sitting next to her, carefully as not to get any grass stains on his uniform.

"Do you...think I'll be able to do this?" asked Edy as she gazed at the sparkling water. "Do you think I can really lead a team of my own?"

Homer took a deep breath exhaled slowly before giving his answer.

"Miss Edy, when I first met you I thought you were just some spacey, self-centered girl who only cared about being the most popular girl in the Squad. I honestly thought you didn't care about anyone but yourself for a long time. That all changed when I fought with you during the liberation of Fouzen."

"Fouzen huh?" said Edy. "That was the first battle we fought together in, right?"

Homer nodded. "I was assigned to clear the middle bridge of mines so the Edelweiss could cross and clear a path to the bomb that was going to topple that Imperial train. It was then we received the report that..."

"...That the Imperials had begun to set the Darcsen housing units on fire..." Edy closed her eyes as she began to recall the awful moments with Homer.

"_Keep firing at those sandbags troopers!" shouted Welkin from atop the Edelweiss. "Keep that engineer covered; we can't afford to lose him!"_

_The sound of gunfire and ragnite shelling was deafening to Homer as he continued to disarm one land mine after another. He heard a bullet whistle past his head as he tossed another mine off the bridge. He didn't let it bother him, he had a job to do. Usually relegated to backup duty such a handing out ammunition, he was called to the front lines when the first engineer, Karl Landzaat, was struck in the shoulder by a sniper's bullet just as the squad had reached the bridge. As he disarmed another mine, he looked back to see Karl being treated by Fina, the medic assigned to Squad 7 on this operation._

"_Hurry it up Peron! If that train fires off another shot from that cannon we're all dead!" shouted Rosie as she and Edy continued to lay suppressing fire on the Imperial troops that were pinned down on the other side of the bridge._

"_Almost done!" Homer shouted back as he disarmed the final mine. "There! The way is clear!"_

_The Edelweiss began to roar forward in response and fired a short range mortar round at the cluster of Imperials that had been pinned down on the other side of the bridge. The resulting explosion sent the Imperials flying, clearing the way for the Edelweiss and the bomb detonation team to proceed forward._

"_Alright." said Welkin. "All we have to do secure the final spot atop that hill and that should clear the way for Catherine to take the shot."_

_Suddenly Alicia ran up to the group with bad news._

"_Welkin, the Imperials, they've...they've..."_

"_Spit it out girl, we ain't got all day!" growled Largo._

"_They've set fire to the Darcsen encampments!" said Alicia._

_Welkin and the others looked back to see black smoke rising from the ravine where the Darcsen labor camps were located at. Sure enough Alicia's report was correct._

"_We have to do something!" shouted Edy._

"_We don't have time for that!" Rosie countered. "If we don't hurry up, that train is gunna blast us all to bits!"_

"_Welkin?" asked Alicia. "What do we do?"_

_Welkin sighed and put his right hand on his forehead. _

"_I'm tellin ya, we gotta hurry up and shoot that bomb boss!" urged Rosie._

"_Ugh.. Alright, let's get to the shooting site, quick!" said Welkin, clearly wanting to do the opposite._

"_Are you saying we let those people burn to death, Sir?!" gasped Edy._

"_We don't have a choice Edy." Welkin said. "We're all dead unless we take that train out now."_

_A shout from behind caught their attention._

"_Lynn! No!" shouted Karl, who was unsuccessfully struggling with Fina. "Let me go dammit!"_

_Edy recalled that earlier Karl had requested to be included on the mission because his fiancée, a Darcsen woman named Lynn, was a captive at Fouzen. And now she and all the other prisoners are going to die unless you do something Edy..._

"_Where are you going Edy?!" Rosie demanded as she saw the silver haired shocktrooper turn to leave._

"_You might hate Darcsens enough to stand by and let them die, but not me!" shouted Edy as she began to backtrack across the bridge._

"_Private Nelson **stop**. That's an order!" yelled Rosie, her face becoming nearly as red as her hair._

"_Screw you Brigitte." Edy purposely used Rosie's real name, knowing full well that doing so would most likely seal her fate when everything was said and done._

"_..." The response was a bit of a shock to Rosie and the others, since Edy didn't seem like the type of person to blatantly refuse an order for her own beliefs or to say such a remark._

"_You're coming with me!" said Edy as she grabbed Homer's arm and pulled him along._

"_You're not going to stop her boss?" asked Largo._

_Welkin shook his head. "There's no time; we need to keep pressing forward! I'll deal with her later."_

_Running full steam across the bridge with Homer in tow, Edy ran toward the elevator that lead to the Darcsen camp. It was only after she pulled the down switch did she allow herself a moment to catch her breath._

"_Um Miss Nelson..." gasped Homer, trying to catch his breath. "You know you could be court-martialed for this..."_

"_Yes, I know," sighed Edy as the elevator began to slowly move down. "And don't call me by my last name...I hate it."_

"_My apologies Miss Edy," said Homer. "But...why are you doing this? You're risking a lot just to save a bunch of Darcsens..."_

"_Don't tell me you're a Darcsen hater too!" fumed Edy, her face turning completely red._

"_Oh, no it's not that!" said Homer, backing up a step. "It's just that, well... I didn't think you were the kind of person to do something like this, that's all."_

_Edy walked over and out her right hand on top of Homer's head. As her brown eyes met his bright blue ones, she spoke a single sentence._

"_I'm just following my heart."_

_A moment later the elevator creaked to a halt and the doors opened to reveal a horrific scene. Every single housing unit was fully ablaze and there were no signs of anyone having escaped. To complicate matters even more, a large barbed wire chain link fence surrounded the camp, making entry impossible for Edy._

"_No! Is there no way through?" she despaired._

"_Don't worry Miss Edy," replied Homer as he produced a pair of wire cutters. "I'll get us in there."_

_He knelt in front of the fence and began cutting open a section._

"_Hurry! Hurry!" Edy urged. "You're taking too long!"_

"_But it's electrified Miss Edy," Homer said as he continued cutting away at the fence, unfazed by the sparks that were being emitted. "I won't be able to get us past this fence if I'm turned into fried bacon..."_

_One agonizing minute later, Homer had succeeded in creating an opening big enough for them to safely fit through._

_Running to the nearest building, the two discovered exactly why there weren't any prisoners outside. The doors and been barred and nailed shut on the outside, and with the windows too high and too small, escape was impossible._

_The screams of hundreds of prisoners began to fill the air and it fueled Edy's determination even more. There was no way for her and Homer to physically unbar the doors, but the doors themselves didn't seem particularly sturdy..._

_Producing a hand grenade, Edy ran up to the door and pulled the ripcord on the grenade's handle, activating the fuse. After shouting a quick warning to the occupants inside, she set the grenade next to the door and ran a safe distance away. The results were exactly as she had hoped for; the grenade blew the door open and no less than twenty Darcsen prisoners ran out of the makeshift exit._

"_Good thinking Miss Edy!" Homer cheered as he began unpacking the spare grenades from the ammo box that he carried on his back._

"_You get those two buildings over there open and I'll work on these!" ordered Edy as she headed over to free open the next building._

_In a matter of minutes, the two had managed to free open half of the housing units, but that didn't satisfy Edy. The other half of the buildings were on a separate cliff, and the only way to them was a small access bridge that spanned between them. However before Edy and Homer could reach the it, a loud explosion blew the bridge apart. Stunned, the two could only look on as they watched an Imperial lancer appear on the other side and run away. The tactic was meant to secure his squad's retreat, but it also sealed the fate of the prisoners on that side as well._

_Speechless, Edy dropped to her knees. Exhaustion and stress were beginning to catch up to her and a sick feeling had begun to creep up in the pit of her stomach._

"_Miss Edy I..." Homer tried to comfort her but he could not find the words._

_A second explosion caught the pair's attention but this time it was in the direction of the armored train. Edy and Homer watched as the bridge underneath the massive rail vehicle collapsed and the target of Squad 7 with it._

_The mission was a success, but that didn't make Edy feel any better. A lot of innocent people died today and all she could do was watch..._

"_Let's get the prisoners to the top Miss Edy; get them some fresh air," said Homer, offering his hand. "We can do that much at least."_

_Edy nodded and took his hand. Wearied and tired, the pair led the prisoners to the elevator. It took ten elevator trips to get all of the prisoners to the top and Edy and Homer waited the twenty minutes it took to complete the task until they returned topside. As expected, Edy was detained upon returning to the Squad, but not before she witnessed a tearful reunion between Karl and one of the now-freed prisoners, whom Edy later found out to be the Lynn that Karl had told her about; the very same Lynn that enlisted just days after the battle. _

_Edy was never court-martialed; rather Welkin reported the incident as a 'misinterpretation of orders' with the punishment resulting in a week of KP duty. The punishment was more of a measure to keep her and Rosie separated than anything else. It wasn't until after the battle of Marberry Beach that the two finally reconciled._

"That was, without a doubt, the greatest thing I've ever seen anyone do Miss Edy," explained Homer. "Since that day I've decided to follow and support you no matter what."

"So that's why..." mused Edy as she watched the sun begin to set. "And all this time I thought you just enjoyed getting beat up by me!"

Homer laughed and stood up. "Well that too. Anyway, I believe you'll do just fine when the time comes, so don't worry! Anyway, I'm going to go see if the guys in R&D need me, so I'll catch you tomorrow maybe."

Edy waved goodbye and watched the younger engineer take his leave. _I hope you're right, Homer dear..._

Turning back to the now golden sea, Edy took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. _I wish there were more peaceful days like these more often, _she thought as she slowly breathed out. The taste of the sea air on her lips, the warm sun, the breeze; all of it reminded her of home, a small village near the northern coast of Gallia. For the first time since she left to enlist, she felt a little homesick. But just a little.

She slowly retied her hair back into her trademark pigtails and then retrieved her gloves and folder. _I think I'll turn in early today, _she thought as she took a final look at the glistening sea. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that her future days in Squad 7 weren't going to be the same ever again...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – The Battle for Bruhl**

The next 36 hours seemed to fly by for Edy, all things considered. Captain Varrot seemed somewhat surprised that the recently appointed Corporal had completed the selection process for her team a day early, but the candidates appeared sound enough and she informed Edy that she and her selections would be called in for a meeting the following day. The remainder of the day was business as usual; spent in the training field along with the other shocktroopers over the watchful eye of the Drill Instructor. After all, Tuesday was the mandatory day for shocktrooper exercises, Corporal or not. The evening consisted of Edy making the necessary alterations to her uniform to reflect her new rank. Gone was the crest-shaped patch with the triple segmented lines bordering top sides, the rank of Private, on the front right of the uniform jacket. In its place, the Corporal rank patch, similar to the Private's patch but with another line bordering the bottom and connecting the two lines on the side. It brought quite a bit of satisfaction to Edy, for now she was one step closer to claiming the spot of top trooper of Squad 7 from Rosie.

The next morning Edy was sitting in the barracks, brushing her hair, when she received the much anticipated message that Captain Varrot had finally summoned her. Clearly excited, Edy practically sprinted to Captain Varrot's office. After knocking on the Captain's door and receiving acknowledgment, Edy entered.

"Corporal Edy Nelson reporting Ma'am!" saluted Edy with a smile.

"At ease," nodded the Captain.

Doing so, Edy spotted all five members of Squad 7 that she had selected standing on the right side of Varrot's desk. As she joined them, Edy saw that on the left side stood Welkin and Alicia, which was somewhat unexpected.

"Well now that she's here, can someone, like, tell us what's going on?" asked Elysse, barely able to contain a yawn.

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda nervous," said Ted. "It's not everyday I get called to see the Captain."

"I've called you all in here today for two reasons," began Varrot, turning to Edy and the others. "First things first, the six of you have been chosen to form a team to perform special missions that either the Lieutenant or I deem necessary. Given her record of uncanny and...unorthodox results on the past few missions with Squad 7, I'm putting Corporal Nelson in charge of the team. If there are any objections, speak now."

"Special missions?" asked Ted, his face lighting up. "Like secret spy stuff? Sounds cool! Count me in Edy!"

"I don't mind, but...Ted?" sighed Marina, closing the one visible eye that wasn't covered by her dark hair. "I guess it can't be helped though. My skills are yours Edy."

"I practically owe you my life Edy," said Lynn. "Now maybe I can repay the debt."

"You already know my answer Miss Edy," stated Homer as he flashed her a thumbs up.

"Yeah. Sure," said Elysse in an almost uninterested tone. "Sounds fun."

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, there is one remaining issue that needs addressing," continued the Captain. "You are all aware that the militia's next mission was to recapture a small border town called Bruhl. The original plan was for the regiment to surround the area and for your Squad to enter the town and clear it of enemy forces. However, the military has just learned that a large Imperial force was moving south of the town and all forces were diverted to intercepting it, meaning your squad would have to take the town with no backup, Lieutenant."

Alicia and Welkin exchanged worried glances as they received the bad news.

"Further complicating matters is a mortar battery that was discovered to be about a half mile north of Bruhl," added Varrot.

Welkin sighed. "That's not good at all. Not only would we be sitting ducks, but the town would be leveled as well."

"So does that mean the mission has been canceled?" asked Alicia, struggling to fight back tears.

"If this mission didn't involve your squad, that would be the case," admitted Varrot. "However, I have come up with a strategy that should allow the mission to be successful. And this is where your team comes in Corporal Nelson."

"I'm ready for anything!" said Edy, looking straight into the Captain's piercing green eyes.

"The plan is to have your team take out the mortar battery while the rest of Squad 7 liberates the town."

"Sound easy, actually," said Ted as he scratched his head.

"In theory, yes," agreed Varrot. "However timing is everything with this strategy. You must take out the battery as soon as the Lieutenant begins the attack on Bruhl."

"I see," sighed Welkin. "If they take it out too soon, the forces in Bruhl will know we're coming and will have plenty of time to set up a defense."

"And it's kind of obvious what will happen if we take it out too late," added Lynn.

"I wish I could offer more squads to assist, but my hands are tied I'm afraid," explained Captain Varrot.

"I'm confident we'll be fine," said a determined Welkin. "Squad 7 always gets the job done."

"Very well," nodded Varrot. "Have your squad ready to move out in 2 hours. And Corporal Nelson, report to the R & D building; I've had them prepare a few things for you. Dismissed."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The eight members of Squad 7 saluted the Captain and then left.

Once outside the office, Welkin and Alicia approached Edy.

"Mind if we walk with you to R & D Edy?" asked Welkin. "That's where the Edelweiss is, after all."

"Sure, I don't mind," said Edy. When the three exited the building a question suddenly popped into Edy's head.

"Um, Lieutenant, why are we going to all this trouble just to liberate a small, out of the way place like Bruhl?"

Welkin stopped and gazed upwards at the sky.

"You know that the morale of the squad has been very low since Isara passed away right?"

Edy nodded. "It's been three weeks since then. Anyone can tell that things just haven't been the same since."

"Bruhl is her hometown, as well as many of us in the squad. The Captain believes that by fighting together to reclaim Bruhl, it will help us move past her death and get us looking forward, rather than looking back."

"It guess it does make sense when you put it that way Welkin," said Edy. "I guess I just don't think about things as deeply as you."

"You're more of a spur-of-the-moment thinker," said Alicia. "Not that there's anything wrong with that of course."

"At any rate, we can't afford to fail this mission, otherwise the psychological impact would crush us," added Welkin. "That's why everyone needs to do their part when the battle begins."

"Well don't worry about me," said Edy, winking. "I won't let you down. I don't think Isara would forgive me if I messed this one up."

Finally arriving at the R & D armory building, Edy parted ways with Welkin and Alicia and made her way over to the mechanic on duty, Leon Schmidt.

"Ah there you are Edy!" Said Leon with his trademark enthusiastic attitude. "Captain Varrot had me prepare a few things for you with your promotion and all."

"That's what I was told," nodded Edy. "So whatcha got for me?"

"Well I guess it's best to start with the shocktrooper's best friend, the Military mAchine Gun Series firearm!"

Leon walked over to a workstation and retrieved a machine gun that looked like a larger version of Edy's standard issue Mags.

"Say hello to the Mags Mark Twenty, or MXX for short." Leon proudly displayed the weapon for Edy as he began to explain the features of it. When he was finished he handed it over to Edy.

"So basically it's a bigger, faster, stronger version of my old gun?" asked Edy.

"Well, yeah I guess that's pretty much it in a nutshell," admitted Leon as he ran his fingers through his hair. "It uses the same rounds and clips as the standard Mags model, so you won't have to worry about that."

"Also, there's this," Leon presented Edy with a small metal box.

Edy looked at the box with a smirk. "Uh, thanks but I already have a lunch box Leon."

"No, silly, it's a miniature wireless radio communicator," explained Leon. "It's only got a range of a mile but it's suitable for the type of stuff you'll be doing with your team. It has a private channel so you can issue orders and whatnot to your team and not have to worry about the enemy intercepting the signal."

"Well on second thought, maybe I could use a new lunch box then," Edy giggled as she took the device. "Anything else?"

"Well..."

Suddenly, an explosion nearby interrupted their conversation and the two looked over in time to see a pair of female bodies fly past them and into a shelf.

"Ow...Jeez Wendy I **told** you that was too much gunpowder!" moaned of them, struggling to pick herself up.

"Hee hee, oops. I didn't think it would be that big of a blast Ramsey," replied the other one, still sprawled on the ground.

"Hey are you guys okay?" asked Leon as he and Edy rushed up to them.

"Yeah, we'll live," groaned Ramsey Clement, who was an engineer from Squad 7.

"What were you guys doing?" asked Edy as she helped Wendy to her feet.

"Just trying to make a better grenade, that's all," answered Wendy as she adjusted the white wool cap on her head. "A bigger blast and more boom is all I wanted, honest!"

"Well I think you achieved that," said Leon. "But, the goal is to blow up the enemy, not yourselves..."

"Yeah, we're working on that," sighed Ramsey. "My bad..."

"Anyway, that's all I've got for you now Edy," said Leon. "I'll have some other things ready for you as time goes on, so don't forget to stop by every now and then."

"Sure thing," Edy nodded and gave Leon a smile. "Thanks for the stuff, I'm sure it'll help with the mission." _On second thought I think I'll make sure Ramsey and Wendy aren't in on those days..._

The staging point for the Bruhl mission was located a mile west of the town, and it was a long three hour trip for Edy, having to spend the entire trip crammed in a transport with twenty other squad mates. Upon reaching the destination, Welkin called over Edy and her team over to the Edelweiss for a final strategy meeting.

"Alright guys, listen up," said Welkin as he unfolded a map of Bruhl and the nearby area. "In exactly one hour we will begin the operation. The primary goal for the main force is to drive the Imperials out of the town. Edy, you and your team will have to make it to the mortar battery due north of us by foot. When I give the order, we will attack both the town and the battery at the same time. The Imperials won't be expecting us, so there should be a small window of time before the battery can be fired."

"How much time?" asked Ted.

"Maybe ten minutes at the most," said Alicia.

"That doesn't sound like a lot of time," said Elysse.

Welkin nodded. "It's not, which is why it's vital that you take it out as fast as you can. Taking them by surprise is your best option, so try to strike any forces there hard and fast."

"We won't let you down," Edy said, saluting.

"Good luck out there guys," said Alicia.

Using the nearby woods for cover, Edy and her team wasted no time reaching their destination, sighting it with thirty minutes to spare. The group decided to remain in the woods until Welkin gave the order to begin the attack.

"There it is," said Homer. "So what's the plan Miss Edy?"

"Ted, can you see how many Imperials there are?" Edy asked. "I hope it's not too many..."

Pulling his binoculars out, Ted surveyed the mortar battery and began reporting what he saw.

"I see ten soldiers near the big gun itself, all troopers," reported Ted. "There some scouts too, all behind sandbags."

"...I see four Gatling turrets, two on the left side, two on the right," added Marina, using the scope of her rifle to assist in the scouting process.

"Hey, now, I was getting to those Marina!" sighed Ted.

"If you say so..." muttered Marina.

"It doesn't look like we'll be able to take them all on without things getting ugly," noted Lynn.

"Yeah, they've got it defended, like, really well," said Elysse.

"We'll get shot to pieces if we charge at them Miss Edy," said Homer. "Since it's on top of a hill there's almost no way to get the jump on them."

_This is just great,_ Edy thought as she took in the information. _My first mission and things are already looking bad..._

"Hey, look at that," said Lynn, pointing at an area just below the hill. "There's a large wheat field between us and the hill; do you think we can use that to our advantage?"

"If we use grenades and Elysse to make an initial attack, it just might work..." Edy said.

"Um...Mind if I stay back and cover you all from here?" asked Marina. "I'm allergic to wheat so..."

"That's fine," nodded Edy. "This way you can signal when we start the attack by firing the first shot."

"You need me as a spotter Marina?" asked Ted, grinning as he did so. "You know you do!"

Marina shot him an icy glance from her visible eye. "Don't make me answer that..."

"Yeesh fine, fine, I'll go with the others!" sighed Ted. _Man, if looks could kill then that would have been the 50th time should woulda killed me._

A voice over the radio interrupted the pair's verbal exchange. "Edy, this Welkin, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear~" said Edy.

"We're in position for the attack, are you ready on your end?"

"Ready when you are Sir!"

"Alright, we'll reach Bruhl in five minutes; get ready to begin."

Turning to her group she relayed Welkin's message.

"Looks like it time for our performance darlings!" Edy said. "Let's go!"

Marina watched as the other five members exited the woods and disappeared into the adjacent wheat field. Picking up her rifle, she looked through the scope and watched as they made their way through the field. _So far so good. The enemy hasn't noticed them yet..._ Suddenly the sounds of gunfire in the distance caught Marina's attention. _The attack on Bruhl must have began..._

"We're ready," said Edy over the radio. "We'll go after you take the first shot."

Marina scanned the mortar battery, searching for a suitable target. Spotting a scout sitting behind some sandbags on the opposite side that the team was approaching on, she decided that taking him down first would cause enough confusion and make the enemy investigate the wrong side. She closed her eyes for a moment and began to recall the lessons her late father had taught her. _Breathe slowly. Focus on your target. Think of nothing else. Pull the trigger slowly to reduce accuracy loss._ Crack. Her aim was perfect, and her target fell to the ground, having taken a bullet to the head.

"Charge!" shouted Edy as soon she heard the sniper rifle fire. Elysse fired a lancaar round in between the two Gatling turrets in front of her, taking both of them out. Homer stayed with her and loaded another round in her launcher. The other three each ran forward and lobbed a grenade behind the row of sandbags that took out the troops that had taken cover behind them. Lynn spotted a group of troopers that appeared from around the battery and subjected them to a hailstorm of bullets, putting them down in mere seconds. Then she along with Edy took cover behind another row of sandbags and began firing at another group of soldiers that had ducked behind some nearby crates. That cover didn't last long as Elysse blew apart the crates with another lancaar round, sending the soldiers behind it into a panic. They began firing wildly at Edy and Lynn's direction but the sandbags proved to be ample cover. A sniper round took one the soldiers out and a second later another. Within five minutes the Edy Detachment had cleared the mortar battery.

"Whew, good job everyone!" Edy beamed. "Those Imperials didn't know what hit em!"

As Homer began to place timed explosives around the mortar cannon Edy radioed to Welkin that her team was successful.

"That's good news Edy," replied Welkin, hearing the explosions of the now-detonated charges.

"What about you guys?" Edy asked. "You must be giving them a hard time with all that shelling I'm hearing!"

"It's not coming from us Edy," said Welkin. "They've got anti tank turrets lining the town square and snipers everywhere...Neither the Edelweiss nor the Shamrock are making much headway here..."

"Need us?" asked Edy as Marina rejoined the group.

"If you can somehow flank them and take out some of those turrets, it would be appreciated," Welkin admitted.

"Leave it to us, sir!" said Edy. Turning to her group she gave them all a determined look. "It looks like it's time for an encore everyone!"

"Oh, boy..." said Elysse. "Can't wait."

"Well, let's go then!" said Ted, pumping his fists.

"Less talking, more running guys!" said Edy as she took off in the direction of Bruhl.

"Agh wait for us Miss Edy!" shouted Homer as he and the rest of the team ran after her.

"Come on people, start taking those turrets out!" shouted Rosie as she fired at a group of Imperials from behind the corner of a burned out building.

"It's impossible Rosie," cried Alicia. "We can't even get our tanks close enough to give us any cover to make a run at them, and those snipers have already injured six of us!"

"They're dug in pretty tight," said Largo as he wiped a large amount of dirt and sweat from his face. "I know that Elle said this wouldn't be easy but this wasn't what I had in mind!"

The sudden appearance of Juno Coren didn't ease their concerns either.

"We're taking too much fire on the northern side," gasped Juno, her hair covered in dust and sans glasses due to a close call from an Imperial lancer shot. "We can't hold out much longer!"

"Come on Juno," fumed Alicia. "You've got to be kidding me; there's four scouts and five troopers helping you!"

"And half of them are out of ammunition Sergeant," countered Juno. "Either get us some relief or we have to fall back!"

"We'll send Dallas to resupply you then," said Alicia. "The Edelweiss will survive that long at least. I'll send a few scouts from the eastern line to help you guys...Oh my God Juno you're hurt!" She suddenly noticed a large red stain around the squad patch of Juno's BDU and a hole in the middle of it.

Juno nodded. "I took a bullet in my shoulder earlier and it hurts like hell, but I can still fight. Excuse me." She then ran off back in the direction of her previous post.

"We're gunna have to pull out soon Alicia," sighed Rosie. "We can't break their defenses like this..."

Alicia sighed and leaned on the building next to her. Pulling out would almost certainly spell disaster for squad. Not just now but in the future as well...

"I hate to say it, but it's gunna take a miracle to get us out of that one," said Largo.

As if on cue, an explosion near the town square caught the group's attention.

"What th-," stammered Rosie. "Something took out one of their anti-tank turrets!"

"How?" asked Alicia. "There's no way for any of us to get close enough for a shot at them!"

The reason for the explosion was due to the fact that Edy's team had snuck into the town via the river and successfully ambushed a turret crew.

"Nice shot Elysse!" said Ted. "Now let's get em guys!"

Homer loaded another round for Elysse and a few seconds later reduced a second turret to cinders.

Marina had elected to enter a house apart from the team. She knew that there snipers hiding in the area needed to be taken out and she was the only one able to do it. Finding a spot on the second floor near a broken window she began seeking targets. In a matter of seconds she spotted a sniper on a rooftop across the street, and just as quickly shot him dead. She spotted another on the rooftop adjacent to where the first sniper was. Five seconds later that sniper was dead. _The Imperials here make for easy prey...they don't even hide._

Inside the Edelweiss, Welkin's mood quickly changed. _Edy's team did it! _"All units listen up! We attack the town square now! Don't stop attacking until its ours!"

Without any more anti-armor weaponry or sniper support, the Imperial forces fell fifteen minutes later.

"We've taken Bruhl!" shouted an exuberant Noce Wordsworth, as he and the rest of Squad 7 stood triumphantly in front the Sister Mills.

"We did it Isara," whispered Welkin as he watched Alicia lower the Imperial flag that had been flying on the town's flag pole and replace it with the Gallian flag. "We've taken back our home...You can rest easy now."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – An Evening of Peace**

Nighttime came quickly to the newly liberated town of Bruhl, and with it, a rare chance for Squad 7 to celebrate. With the Shamrock parked in the Mill Plaza, Ted and his best friend and fellow scout Melville Young converted it into a makeshift stage. Shifting the lights of the tank to shine toward the middle, the two began to perform an impromptu comedy routine, much to the delight for most of the Squad members that had gathered around them. There were a few of those in the squad, however, that preferred to stay away from the laughter and shouting that was taking place. One of them being a sniper named Marina Wulfstan. Preferring the quiet peace of isolation, she found a spot under a tree atop a hill just outside of the town and was sitting under it when a familiar voice caught her attention.

"That's an interesting way to celebrate a victory Marina dear."

"Catherine..." Marina continued stare at the countryside as fellow sniper Catherine O'Hara approached her. "It's not nice to spy on people you know..."

Catherine gave a small chuckle and sat down next to Marina. "I know you well enough to know your hiding spots."

"So why are you here?" asked Marina. "I'm sure it's not just to make small talk with me."

"...To the point as always," sighed Catherine. "However, I just came by to see how you were doing."

"...That's all?" asked Marina. "You're not getting all mushy on me are you?"

"Well I did promise your father I'd keep an eye on you, you know," said Catherine. "It wouldn't do to deny a dying man his final wish."

"That was ten years ago," sighed Marina as she looked up at the stars. "I'm a big girl now..."

"Oh? I still see a lot of the same little girl from ten years ago," Catherine shot back. "And still the same sour attitude. I wonder what Gustav would say if he saw you now."

"He'd say 'Go away Catherine, stop bringing me up in every conversation you have with my daughter',"

"You may not like to hear it but he was an important person to me too," said Catherine.

"You fought together in the first Europan War," said Marina, still refusing to look at Catherine. "So what?"

"That's true, but that's only half the story..." said Catherine, a sad smile appearing on her face.

"...What are you saying?" asked Marina, finally looking at Catherine.

"Oho I thought you didn't care about other people's affairs!" teased Catherine.

"...You do realize that I hate you?" said Marina. "Why do you do this to me?"

Catherine shrugged. "It's fun."

"So are you going to tell me?" asked Marina.

"Another time," said Catherine as she picked up her rifle and looked through the scope at the river near the town. "Right now, I see something that might interest you at the river. Care to see?"

"..No," said Marina as she picked up her own rifle anyway and peered through the scope to see.

__

What Catherine and Marina were looking at was Edy Nelson sitting at the river's edge, her bare feet in the water. In addition to her boots and socks being removed, she had also taken off her BDU jacket and her gloves, leaving only the black wool turtleneck undershirt. Once again she had removed the blue and gray ribbons from her hair and was staring at them, thinking about Ramona.

"Ah there you are Miss Edy," said a voice from behind her.

"You're becoming quite the stalker these days," said Edy, still looking at the ribbons.

"Well when you're not near the spotlight, I kinda get worried..But then again I'm sure you don't want to see Freesia dancing right now so..." said Homer as he approached Edy. When he saw the ribbons in her hand he knew why. "Still thinking about Ramona?"

"...She should have been here with us, Homer," sighed Edy as she felt tears well up in her eyes. "Because of me, she lying in a hospital bed in a coma right now."

"It's not your fault Miss Edy," assured Homer. "This is a war, people get hurt and some die. That's the way it is. Besides we took a lot of casualties at Marberry, Ramona was just one of them."

"You weren't there when it happened Homer," cried Edy. "I was too scared to run out of cover to take out a turret bunker, so she said she would go first and for me to follow. We had barely made a run for it when we were ambushed from Imperials hidden in a trench in front of the bunker. She...was shot six times. I was able to carry her away to safety but...I'll never forgive myself for my cowardice."

"But you've gotten stronger since then haven't you?" asked Homer as he sat down next to her. "Remember when you charged through a whole squad of Imperials to go rescue Corporal Stark when we were evacuating that village? And don't forget about the battle that we just won. You didn't look scared to me."

"I guess I have gotten better about that," admitted Edy. "It's just that she's my best friend and all, you know? I don't think I would have lasted as long as I have in the militia without her. I could say the same about you, I suppose."

Homer looked at Edy with a surprised look. "M-me?"

"Uh I mean..." Edy's face suddenly turned red. Unable to think of anything to say she pushed Homer forward. Losing his balance, he instinctively grabbed Edy's arm, resulting in the two of them falling into the river.

"Help! Miss Edy! Help!" shouted Homer as he floundered in the water. "I can't swim!"

"Homer....stand up," sighed Edy as she got to her feet.

"I can't sw-...oh," Homer stood up with a sheepish look on his face. "I guess this river isn't very deep, huh?"

"Obviously," said Edy as she pushed her water-soaked hair away from her face. "But you should be worried more about I'm going to do to you when I catch you!"

"But, it was you who pushed me in Miss Edy," pleaded Homer. "Please don't forget that!"

"Hey, I thought we were the only couple in the squad!" a female voice said from behind them.

Homer and Edy looked up to see Lynn and Karl looking down at them from the riverside.

"We are **not **a couple Lynn," fumed Edy.

"You didn't have to say it like that Miss Edy," sighed Homer.

"Oh, that's too bad," giggled Lynn. "You two look so cute together."

Edy realized she was blushing. "Don't say such silly things!"

"Lynn, please don't cause any more trouble," begged Karl as he adjusted his glasses.

"Oh come on, Karl honey, don't be such a tightwad," said Lynn. "It's good to have fun once in awhile."

"If you say so..." said Karl.

The two watched as Edy and Homer crawled out of the river and back onto the grass.

"So why were you two in the river to begin with?" asked Lynn.

"Homer fell in and dragged me in with him," Edy explained.

"That's not exactly wh-," Homer wasn't able to complete his explanation due to Edy backhanding him across the face and sending him sprawling on his back yet again.

"You were saying?" demanded Edy.

"Um, nothing," said Homer, still on his back. "That felt kinda nice actually..."

"...Wierdo," sighed Lynn. "Anyway, Edy I was looking for you because I wanted to give you this."

"A doll?" asked Edy, noticing a homemade doll in Lynn's right hand.

"It's a Darcsen good luck charm," explained Lynn. "I wanted to give it to you before the Feast, but it wasn't finished, so..."

"Wait, I thought you only gave gifts to guys you like on the Feast," said Edy.

"It's also for people that are important to you," explained Karl. "But a lot of people don't know that."

"Anyway, I'd be dead now if it weren't for you, so I'd say you're fairly important to me," said Lynn. "So..here."

"Thank you Lynn," said Edy as she accepted the charm. "I'll keep it on me from now on."

"So what do you think the Captain is going to have us do next Miss Edy?" asked Homer after a few moments of silence passed.

Edy shrugged as she looked up at the night sky. "Whatever it is, I doubt it will be that much harder than what we did today. I mean it's not like she's going to have us fight off the entire Imperial Army by ourselves right?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – What Lies Beyond Hate **

Two days after the liberation of Bruhl, Squad 7 had returned to Fort Amatriain and awaiting further orders. Rumors were flying around the base that most of the Imperial invasion forces were gathering at the Naggiar Plains, and that a battle to decide the fate of the war was fast approaching. For Edy Nelson and her team, this was the very thing being discussed during a meeting with Captain Varrot.

"So let me get this straight," said Edy. "The Empire is gathering all of its forces at Naggiar?"

"All of the reports we have received indicate that," said Captain Varrot. "I expect that General Damon is going to give us the order to proceed there ourselves soon."

"Can't the Imperials ever give us a break?" sighed Ted. "All we've done the last few weeks is fight, fight, fight."

"Well it could take up to two weeks before we have to move out," Varrot clarified. "That's why I'm having most of the militia withdraw back here, to rest up."

"But didn't you just send Lieutenant Gunther and the others on a mission?" asked Homer.

"They requested to be on a certain operation themselves," said Varrot. "The details are not important at the moment. Now, as to why you're here, there have been reports of Imperial raids at villages along northern Gallia. The citizens of a small fishing village called Teschellberg have requested aid in evacuating the village as a precaution."

"Teschellberg?" gasped Edy. "That's my hometown!"

"So it seems," said Varrot. "It shouldn't be more than a routine escort mission, so I trust that you six will be able to take care of it."

"Well, I suppose it would be interesting to see what kind of place Miss Edy grew up at," mused Homer.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Very well," said Varrot. "Use one of the APCs when you are all ready. That is all."

__

"At least we got an easy assignment," said Elysse as the group headed toward the armory . "I'm still worn out from Bruhl."

"You said it," agreed Ted. "Shooting Imps is fun and all, but it gets to you after a while."

"So how far away is Teschellberg Edy?" asked Lynn.

"It's about a six or seven hour drive from here," Edy explained. "If we hadn't taken Marberry Beach it would take two days!"

"You seem excited about this Miss Edy," noted Homer. "Do you miss your hometown that much?"

"Well it's been awhile since I've seen my family," said Edy as the group approached the armory. "I wonder what they'll say when they see me now."

"...Family huh?" said Marina. "Must be nice."

"Well it's just my parents and my little sister, Anna," explained Edy. "It's small, just like everything else in Teschellberg."

"Well I wanna drive, so everyone else get in the back!" Ted announced as they walked up to an APC.

"Do you even **know** how to get there Ted?" sighed Lynn.

"Hey, no sweat," said Ted. "That's what maps are for!"

The rest of the group let out a collective sigh but climbed into the back of the APC anyway, as to avoid any further annoyance from Ted.

__

The first few hours of the trip was uneventful, with most of the team keeping to themselves. After the fourth hour of riding, Lynn decided to make an attempt at conversation.

"So, um, I don't know about you guys but it's a bit too quiet for me; the silence is going to drive me crazy."

Edy nodded. "Yeah, let's talk about something; this is way too boring. Oh yeah, are you and Karl gunna get married after the war Lynn?"

"If we can wait that long," laughed Lynn. "Karl insists that we have a big wedding in Fouzen because he wants it to be special for us. Personally I'm fine getting married on base..."

"So how did you two meet?" asked Homer. "I mean, your personalities are almost completely opposite, so it's kind of hard for me to imagine how it happened."

"We've known each other practically our whole lives," said Lynn. "We were close friends during childhood, so it was just one of those things that just happens I guess. I'm not complaining."

"Whatever works right?" said Elysse. "My dad is so uptight he won't even let me date a guy until I turn 18 next year."

"And yet he'll let you enlist in the militia to fight in a war?" Marina wondered out loud. "Interesting."

"Yeah, well about that," said Elysse. "He said it would toughen me up, cuz I'm too laid back or something like that."

"Is that really a bad thing?" asked Homer.

"He thinks so," sighed Elysse. "He's all like 'oh you'll never make a good sword fighter with that attitude!' And that's how I wound up here."

"Speaking of fathers, isn't yours a famous EWI veteran Marina?" asked Edy.

"...He **was**," said Marina, closing her eyes. "He died ten ten years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Edy. "I guess I shouldn't have brought that up."

Marina shook her head. "It's fine. I'm not ashamed of him or anything. Gustav Wulfstan was my father's name. During EWI he was known as the Iron Wolf for his skill as a sniper; I'm told he took down 200 Imperials by the war's end. After the war he and I moved to the mountains, where he began to teach me what he knew about hunting and shooting rifles. I'll admit it wasn't the most normal father-daughter relationship, but we were happy."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did he die?" asked Lynn.

"One day he became sick," said Marina. "He held on for a month, but the illness eventually killed him...Hmph, I've never talked about my father to anyone before, so please keep it between us."

Edy and the others nodded and silence once again came over the group.

__

The rest of the trip was uneventful and quiet, with the exception of Ted having to stop once to look over the map when he had taken a wrong turn. Finally, after six and a half hours of driving, the group had reached the outskirts of Teschellberg.

"Wow this is a small town," said Lynn as they exited the APC.

"I told you," said Edy.

"Well, it seems quiet so it doesn't look like the Imperials have been here yet," noted Homer as they began to walk toward the town.

"But doesn't it seem a little too quiet?" asked Marina. "I don't hear anything. No people, no animals...nothing."

"You think they've already evacuated?" wondered Ted. "The request for help was sent a few days ago after all."

"If that's the case...why are there still so many vehicles here?" asked Marina as she pointed out several trucks parked near the still-open town gate.

"L-let's hurry inside the gate then!" said Edy, her mood quickly darkening.

The scene inside the town didn't ease anyone's mood as the streets were eerily bare and just as quiet. With their weapons drawn, the six began to slowly make their way way down the main street, looking for any signs of people or fighting that might have taken place. Halfway down the street, Marina stopped the group.

"What's up Marina?" asked Edy.

"The door to that house is open..." replied Marina. "I'm going to take a look inside."

Edy nodded as Marina shouldered her rifle and pulled out a Colt .45 revolver, a keepsake of her father's. The group watched as Marina slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

Inside the house Marina immediately noticed several bootprints on the carpet. Now completely convinced that something was amiss, she followed the footprints into the nearby living room. What she saw caused her to wince. A family of four was lying on the floor, all of them shot to death. _Would the Empire truly go this far?!_ Marina quickly rushed outside the house and ran across the street into another house, ignoring the requests of the others as to what was going on. She didn't have to go very far into the next house, for she found the occupants, an elderly couple, lying on the kitchen floor, also shot to death.

Edy and the others watched as Marina slowly walked out of the house and sat on the steps, burying her face in her hands.

"What's wrong Marina?!" demanded Edy. "What's happened?"

"They're...dead," said Marina, barely able to compose herself. "The Imperials most likely came during the night and attacked the town...They had no warning."

Edy let out a very audible gasp and suddenly took off toward the other side of the town.

"Edy, wait!" shouted Lynn as she and the others ran after her.

Edy continued to run toward the side of town where her house was, heedless of the shouts of her teammates. _There's no way Marina can be right,_ she thought as she continued to run. _They have to be okay, they just have to be!_

Lynn and the others had lost track of Edy when she disappeared around a corner, but a few moments later they heard a scream from a nearby house which belonged to Edy. Rushing into the house, they discovered Edy on her knees, sobbing in front of three bodies; a man, a woman, and a small child.

"Mom! Dad! Anna!" cried Edy. "T-They killed them!"

Homer rushed over to Edy to help comfort her, holding her as she continued to cry.

"This is...worse than Fouzen..." whispered Lynn as she watched Edy continue to sob in Homer's arms.

"What the hell is the Empire trying to accomplish ?!" shouted Ted. "Occupying a village is one thing, but murdering the people of it?"

There was something about Ted's statement that got Elysse thinking.

"Wait...If the Imperials attacked this town...Why aren't there any Imp soldiers posted here?"

As if on cue, fifteen Imperial shocktroopers suddenly stormed into the house, and behind them, a man dressed in an Imperial officer's uniform.

"Well, well," said the officer. "I decided to stay and hide for awhile, and look what drops in my lap."

There was something familiar about the man to Marina. A moment later, his black, slicked back hair and mustache, sinister looking eyes, and pale skin suddenly registered to her.

"Giorgios Geld!" she growled.

"Oh, you know of me?" asked Geld, feigning surprise.

"I thought the Imperial commander had you executed after your last incident involving hostages," said Marina.

"Oh, you're quite right," Geld confirmed. "It's too bad 'His Grace' failed to consider that I still had a few men still loyal to me. I escaped from Ghirlandaio, and am now free from the Empire's rules and protocols; I can do whatever I want!"

"So you killed all these people?!" demanded Ted.

Geld gave out a sinister laugh. "Of course! Nothing beats listening to the pleas of people begging for their lives; take these three for instance. They begged me not to kill the girl, so what do I do? I shot her and watched her bleed to death in their arms. Their cries of agony were so splendid, I could barely contain myself!"

At this Edy jumped to her feet and pulled out the combat knife that was strapped to her boot. Screaming "You monster!" she charged at Geld, but one of the shocktroopers stepped forward and smashed her on her forehead with the butt of his machine gun, knocking her out.

"Hmm, seems I struck a nerve with her," mused Geld, his smile growing wider. "I'll have a little fun with her later, but need someone awake right now, because otherwise, how can they scream?" He scanned the group and upon seeing Lynn's trademark Darcsen blue-black hair, he drew a handgun and pointed it at her. "Hmm, it's been awhile since I've killed a dark-hair. This should be fun!" He then dragged her to the opposite side of the room.

Lynn did her best to put put on a brave face as he put the barrel of the gun against her head, but her courage was quickly failing. _Am I going to die right here? I...I didn't even say goodbye to Karl before I left... _She closed her eyes and waited for the gunshot that would end her life.

A gunshot did indeed fire off, but it wasn't from Geld. The gunshot was followed several others, all of them from outside the door. This took Geld's troopers by surprise, and were all shot dead while Homer, Marina, Elysse, and Ted had dropped to the ground in order to avoid the sudden storm of bullets.

To everyone's surprise, more Imperial troopers entered the house, also led by a man in an Imperial officer's uniform.

"So this is where you've been hiding at Giorgios," said the officer. "You've gone too far this time."

"So...Maximilian sent you to be the bloodhound Captain Lemouri?" asked Geld, as he watched the troopers train their guns on him.

"Your trail wasn't hard to follow," explained Captain Lemouri. "You killed nearly every civilian on your way here..."

"And it won't be the last time!" shouted Geld as he held his gun up to Lynn's head. "Back away, or I will kill her!"

"You think I care about the life of a Gallian soldier Giorgios?" asked Lemouri.

"You have a certain weakness called 'honor'," Geld countered as he began walking toward the door with Lynn. "I know you and your men won't shoot."

"..." Captain Lemouri and his men watched as Geld backed out of the doorway with Lynn in front of him as a shield. When he was a safe distance away, Geld shoved Lynn to the ground and began to run towards the APC that Edy's group arrived in.

"He's going to get away Sir!" said one of the troopers.

"Damn that Geld," muttered Lemouri.

Marina quickly stood up and grabbed her rifle. On of the troopers pointed his gun at her but Lemouri stopped him, understanding what Marina's plan was.

_Largo and the Captain may have had their reasons for not killing this man, but I don't! _Marina thought as she zoomed her scope in on the back of Geld's head.

"Ha, ha!" laughed Geld as he approached the APC. "I escape yet again! What fools, those Gallians and Lemouri!" He reached his hand out to open the door to the APC but that was as far as he got. A single shot rang out and Geld fell to the ground, having taken a sniper's bullet in the back of his head.

Satisfied, Marina lowered her rifle and watched as the Imperial troopers trained their rifles on her and the rest of her team.

"What do we do about the Gallians Sir?" asked one of them.

"Let them be," said Captain Lemouri. "We only needed to deal with Geld; not pick a fight with a few Gallian soldiers."

He looked at Edy lying on the ground then at her murdered family, and finally back at Marina. "You there, sniper, tell me what happened."

Marina nodded and gave him the details of what had happened to the villagers and of Geld's appearance.

"...I see," said Lemouri, his blue eyes showing a degree of sorrow. "I was charged with the task of finding Geld and carrying out his sentence when he escaped from Ghirlandaio, but he and his men were always one step ahead of me. I never thought he would stoop to such barbarism. I am sorry for that; this is not how the Empire conducts its business... Gerry!"

One of the troopers walked up to him. "Yes Sir?"

"Take the men and recover all of the villager's bodies and bury them. Take Geld's body and secure it so that His Grace can see that the deed has been done." ordered the Imperial Captain. "We can do that much at least."

"At once Sir!" The trooper saluted him and left the house with the rest of the soldiers.

"Why are doing this for us?" asked Homer as he tended to Edy.

The Captain closed his eyes a took a deep breath. "Some time ago, one of my men was found injured by two Gallians soldiers, like yourselves," he explained with a stern, yet soft voice. " Though they tried to save him, his wounds were too serious and he passed away. The two Gallian soldiers gave him the honor of a burial, of which I personally saw. You could say that I am simply returning the favor." He then left to assist his men with their task.

__

Burying the nearly 150 murdered villagers took the entire day for both the Imperial and Edy's team to complete. After a few hours, Edy had recovered well enough to assist as well, finishing with her family with the help of her friends. When the last villager had been buried, Captain Lemouri gave a final apology and farewell, then left the village with his men.

Nighttime had nearly fallen when the Imperials left, and the Edy Detachment was preparing to leave as well. Homer and Lynn spotted Edy sitting on the cliff that was behind her house, looking at the sea beyond.

"Homer, go to her," said Lynn. "She needs you right now."

"M-me?" asked Homer. "Why?"

Lynn gave him an angry look. "Don't play dumb! You know why."

"You're right," admitted Homer. "But I'm not very good at this sort of thing."

"I don't think that will matter right now," assured Lynn. "She's probably feeling like the loneliest person on Earth right now."

__

Edy was still sitting on cliff side when Homer approached her.

"Come to see the washed-up actress Homer?" asked Edy as she tried to fight back tears.

"Well, that's not how I was going to put it," said Homer as he sat next to her.

"They're all gone Homer," said Edy. "Everyone I ever knew, grew up with, loved...They're all dead now! I'm completely alone now!"

Homer watched as Edy broke down into tears again, trying to come up with something to say.

"Miss Edy, I..."

"Why are you even here Homer?!" sobbed Edy. "Do you even know what it's like to lose everything you ever knew?!"

"...When the Imperials first invaded Gallia...they destroyed my hometown," Homer began to softly explain. "They didn't resist, since the people of my village are pacifists. I found out later that it was that Geld officer that led the attack. I survived because I had been running an errand at a nearby village, but when I came back, everyone had been killed. I would have killed myself right there if my religion didn't forbid it, so I did the next best thing. I joined the militia. I even told the Lieutenant that the entire reason I had signed up is so that this war can claim my life. But then I met someone. She was mean to me sometimes, but I didn't mind. I knew it always made her feel better. She always liked having me around for some reason; and I found myself enjoying being with her."

"Homer..."

"Edy, I might not have the chance to tell you this again, so I'll just say it," Homer paused for a moment, stood up and gathered his courage. Taking her hand he looked into her brown eyes with his blue ones and said, "I fell in love with you. You're the reason I'm still alive today, you know? And seeing you like this it's...it's killing me. I know I may not have much strength in this frail body of mine, but I'll support you however I can. I'll even die for you if need be."

When he finished, Edy stood up and hugged him. "I thought I was the only one who felt that way," she said as she continued to cry. "I didn't want to say anything because of what happened between me and Salinas; I was afraid you'd think I was just using you as a last resort or something. You've always been there for me and I've treated you terribly! Who'd want someone like that?"

"It's fine with me Edy," said Homer as he continued to embrace her. "I don't think I'd have you any other way. You're not alone anymore, so please don't cry."

Edy nodded and wiped her eyes and looked back at Homer. "You're right. But don't think I'm going to let you off so easy for keeping your feelings from me for so long!"

Homer watched as Edy removed her right glove from her hand and clench it into a fist. "Go ahead," he said. "I deserve it." He closed his eyes and prepared to feel Edy's fist smash against his face.

What he felt, however, was the soft touch of her hand on the left side of his face and a moment later her lips against his. After ten seconds had passed, the kiss ended and Homer opened his eyes to see a very confident looking Edy Nelson looking back at him.

"Uh...E-edy..." Homer felt like he was going to melt into the ground for a moment.

"You were saying?" asked Edy.

"Um..thanks," said Homer, unable to say anything else.

"I should be thanking you," replied Edy as she began to walk back towards the rest of the group. "I think I would have lost my mind without you by now."

"So are you okay now?" asked Lynn when the two rejoined the group. "We can stay longer if you need us to."

Edy shook her head as she took one last look at her hometown. "I can't look back anymore. I'm going to move forward the best I can. I'm sure it's what they'd want..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – The Calm Before the Storm**

After only two days, word of the tragedy in Teschellberg had quickly spread throughout the members of Squad 7 and Edy found herself receiving condolences from almost everyone, including Rosie and even Salinas. All of the overwhelming support she was receiving, however, did little to ease her of the pain from her recent loss. Outwardly she appeared to be the same confident Edy Nelson that everyone knew, but on the inside it was a completely different story. The loss of her family and essentially her entire hometown was mentally crushing her and there had been a few times when she had hidden herself in order to cry alone. Only Homer knew about this, and had not told anyone else due to her requesting that he keep it a secret. On the fourth night after their return from Teschellberg, Homer discovered Edy sitting behind the female barracks, crying to herself.

"Edy, are are you alright?" asked Homer as he sat down next to her.

"Y-yeah," she said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I just had a really bad nightmare, thats all. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Oh, I was helping Kreis and Leon perform some maintenance and upgrades to the Shamrock," explained Homer. "We just finished up and I was heading back to the barracks when I heard the sound of someone crying."

"Ugh, I hope no one else heard," sighed Edy as rested her head on Homer's shoulder. "I don't think I could bear to have anyone else see me like this."

"But it's not good to keep everything inside you like this Edy," said Homer. "A lesser person would have gone insane by now."

"I don't have a choice Homer," said Edy. "I still have my team to lead, and with the battle at Naggiar coming up, I can't look weak."

"But..." Homer's sentence was cut off by another voice.

"Well, well. I thought I heard someone out here, and look who I find."

Edy and Homer looked over to see Rosie approaching the two of them.

"What are you doing up..." sighed Edy. Rosie was the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Well I couldn't sleep after hearing you tossing and turning all night," explained Rosie as she stared at the pair. "Then when I saw you get dressed and run outside...Of course I had to see what was going on."

"She just had a bad dream; that's all Miss Rosie," said Homer. "A-and I just happened to be passing by, I swear!"

"A bad dream? Hmm...That would explain it then," Rosie said. "It was about what happened at Teschellberg I take it?"

"It's none of your business," fumed Edy. "Why would you care anyway?"

"Hey, calm down kiddo," said Rosie. "We may not be the best of friends, but if one of my fellow squad-mates is hurting, I want to help."

"How can you help?" demanded Edy. "Do you know what it's like to have everyone you know killed?!"

"As a matter of fact I do," Rosie shot back. "Back in EWI, both of my parents and most of the people in my village were killed during an Imperial Darcsen raid. I was only seven back then, so I'm sure you can imagine how fun that was for me back then..."

"Oh, I'm sorry..." gasped Edy. "I never knew..."

"It's fine," sighed Rosie as she sat next to Edy. "Not a lot of people know about that besides Welkin, Alicia, Largo, and Zaka."

"How...did you handle your loss as such a young age?" asked Homer.

"Well, like any seven year-old would do I cried my eyes out for literally weeks," began Rosie. "In order to rid myself of the pain I began to blame the Darcsens for my parents' death; after all if there hadn't have been any in my village, we wouldn't have been attacked. So for twenty years, that's what I believed. And if it wasn't for you, Edy, and Isara...well I might still be thinking that way today."

"Me?" asked Edy, unsure of what she meant.

"What you did in Fouzen made me do a lot of thinking later on when I saw the aftermath of what the Imperials had done to the Darcsens that you couldn't rescue," explained Rosie. "Welkin never told you this, but it was I who told him to report what happened between you and me as a mistake in orders."

Edy and Homer looked at each other for a moment and then at Rosie in complete disbelief. Rosie simply laughed at the reaction.

"Surprised?" she asked with a smile. "Well, hopefully it'll help prove that I'm not completely heartless."

"It's a start," giggled Edy.

"Oh, it looks like you're feeling better already!" said Rosie.

After a short pause Edy realized that her rival was right. "I...I don't get it...I thought if people saw me like this, they'd just think I was too weak or something."

"That's just being stupid to be honest," said Rosie matter-of-factly.

"Uh, that was kinda blunt Miss Rosie," said Homer, now worried that she was going to wreck any progress the two shocktroopers had made.

"I understand you're trying to be strong," clarified Rosie. "There's nothing wrong with that, but you can't keep everything inside you like you have been these past few days. If you have another breakdown, it might not be in a place as convenient as here; imagine something like this happening in the middle of a battlefield."

Edy took a moment to digest what she had just heard. What Rosie said did indeed make sense, but Edy wasn't about to admit it just yet.

"There's a fine line between pride and stupidity," said Rosie. "And I'm saying this as your friend; don't be on the wrong side of that line."

Edy remained silent as she continued to take in Rosie's advice.

"A lot of us in the Squad have lost one or both our parents," Rosie continued. "Welkin, Freesia, Largo, myself, Juno's mom died in the first war...And Alicia never had the benefit of having parents. So you can talk to any one of us if you feel the need to, we won't think any less of you I promise."

"I guess I could..." trailed Edy. "It's just that I'm not used to people I know dying..."

"It's not something you should really ever get used to either Edy," said Homer. "That's part of what makes us who we are."

"Pretty good observation there, Homer," said Rosie. "I couldn't have said that better mysel...wait, how come you don't call her Miss Edy like you used to?"

"Um..." Both Homer and Edy were unable to come up with anything to say. Rosie looked completely dumbfounded at their reaction until she looked down and saw that they had been holding hands the entire time.

"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know you two were um.." she gasped.

"It's not been for very long so not a lot of people know I guess," explained Edy. "I've been in my own world the past couple of days it seems..."

"Well, good for you two!" said Rosie, giving the two a thumbs up and a wink. "I always thought you guys made a good fit, even if she is always beating on you all the time..."

"Well, I don't mind it," laughed Homer.

"You know, I envy you Edy..." sighed Rosie after a moment.

Edy gave her rival a surprised look. "Huh? Why me?"

"You found yourself a decent guy," answered Rosie. "The only guys that ever have an interest in me are the drunk old men that stumble through the bar I worked at before the war."

"Really?" asked Edy. "I thought you'd have a line of guys waiting to ask you out."

Rosie let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, that's what everyone thinks..." Suddenly she stood up and stretched. "Well, that's enough of my life story. Think about what I said okay? Welkin is going to need us more than ever with the Naggiar battle right around the corner, so if you ever need someone to talk to don't hesitate to come to me."

Edy nodded and waved goodbye to Rosie.

"To think I would get the advice that I needed from her..." said Edy as she watched Rosie leave.

"So, are you really feeling better Edy?" asked Homer, still unsure if she was being sincere or had just been faking it to get Rosie to leave.

"I am," answered Edy, giving Homer a smile. "It still hurts inside, but not as bad you know?"

"I'm glad then," said Homer, putting his arms around Edy as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't think I could bear to see you like you have been for much longer."

"I'm sorry to have worried you," said Edy as she looked up at the star filled-sky. Suddenly she spotted a shooting star. "Hey, did you see that Homer, dear?"

Homer nodded. "Wanna make a wish?"

"I wish..." Edy thought for a moment before giving an answer. "I wish that we can be with each other just like this...for a long time."

"Sounds good to me," agreed Homer as he continued to hold Edy while looking at the stars.

__

The following day Captain Varrot had called all of Squad 7's officers in for an emergency meeting. Rosie was already in Varrot's office when Edy arrived and gave her a smile and a nod upon seeing her. Edy did the same and then turned and faced the Captain.

"As I'm sure you've all guessed by now, General Damon has ordered the Militia to deploy to the Naggiar Plains," Captain Varrot explained.

"About time..." said Largo. "The whole Squad's been gettin' ansy waitin, you know?"

"Lieutenant, prepare your troops to move out in three hours," ordered Varrot.

"Ma'am!" saluted Welkin.

"Corporal Nelson and Corporal Stark, report to R & D," said the Captain. "Leon has informed me that he has...something for the both of you."

"Yes Ma'am!" the shocktroopers saluted.

"If there are no further questions, you are all dismissed."

__

Arriving at the R & D building, Edy and Rosie were greeted with Leon's never-ending enthusiasm.

"Hey ladies, just in time!" he said.

"What's up Leon?" asked Rosie. "You guys make us a gun that can blow up tanks in one shot yet?"

Leon laughed. "Not exactly, we're still working on that. But what I **do** have for you might just be the next best thing!"

"This I have got to see!" said Edy as she and Rosie followed Leon over to a workstation.

"Feast your eyes on this!" announced Leon as he gestured towards a small metal device that was bolted to the bottom of a Mags gun.

"Uh, what is it?" asked Rosie, who was genuinely unimpressed.

"We call it the Flame Flail," said Leon. "Watch this!" He then pressed a switch near the bottom of the device. Instantly a huge spout of fire spewed out of the end of the device.

"Woah!" shouted Edy, not expecting such results. "Pretty cool!"

"Y-yeah..." said Rosie, equally impressed.

"Glad you like it!" beamed Leon. "We only have two completed at the moment though so you two get them."

"Anything we should know about this thing?" asked Rosie. "After all it seems kinda...dangerous."

Leon nodded. "Well the Flame Flail isn't without its drawbacks. There's only enough fuel in the cannister for a ten second stream. Also there's the problem with the fuel itself..."

"Which is..." asked Edy, unsure if she truly wanted to know.

"Well, its unstable," said Leon. "Wendy concocted the mixture, but it's the only thing we've got to go on right now."

"I'm not so sure I want this thing now..." trailed Rosie.

"Oh but there's no chance of the fuel exploding unless the cannister is breached," clarified Leon. "So, um don't get it damaged or shot."

"Ha! You make it sound so easy," scoffed Rosie.

"Sorry I'm just an engineer," laughed Leon as he scratched the back of his head. "But with this you can easily take out any enemy that might be hiding behind sandbags or other types of cover without destroying the cover itself; useful for future use. Also if you're crazy enough, you can fry anyone inside a tank if you can get close enough to spray the inside with it."

Rosie looked at Edy and shrugged. "Well, I guess that's good to know."

"Anyway, I'll be going to Naggiar with you guys to help with tank repairs, so I'll have your weapons ready with the Flame Flail when we arrive." said Leon.

"Sounds good Leon," said Edy. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it ladies!" said Leon as the two shocktroopers left.

__

The trek to the Naggiar Plains took seven hours and Edy spent the entire trip with Homer and Rosie by her side, the three of them talking about various subjects. Night had begun to fall when they had finally arrived at their designated camp, and Edy and Homer parted ways with a kiss, which drew a few whistles from nearby squad members.

"Yeah go Edy!" shouted Vyse Inglebard, a fellow shocktrooper. The scout next to him punched him in the arm.

"Don't be mean Vyse," sighed the scout as she saw Edy blush.

"Aw, I didn't mean that in a bad way, Aika baby," laughed Vyse as he adjusted the glass eye patch that was over his right eye. "Ain't nothing wrong with being in love."

"Eh sorry Edy," said Aika Thompson. "Vyse can be a bit...stupid."

"Hey I heard that!" fumed Vyse.

"That's what you get then," said Aika, giving him a wink.

Edy laughed. "It's okay, I don't mind. It helps take my mind off other things, actually."

__

Marina Wulfstan was standing atop a recently constructed watchtower, surveying the vast expanse that was the Naggiar Plains. She couldn't see a lot due to the fact it was nighttime, but what she did see was nothing but dirt, dust, and trenches dug from the first war. _Tonight this place is nothing more than a silent, barren wasteland. But come tomorrow, it will be a battleground once again. I wonder how Father felt as he stood here..._ Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone climbing up the tower. She didn't bother to see who it was; only one person would dare approach her without saying anything first...

"Again Catherine?" sighed Marina, still looking outward.

"Indeed," nodded the sniper. "I saw you up here and couldn't help but wonder: what are you thinking about right now?"

"Right now I'm thinking about how much I hate you," said Marina.

Catherine sighed as she pushed some of her reddish-brown hair away from her face. "Is that the only feeling you have towards me?"

Marina turned to face her. "What else should I be feeling?" she asked. "The woman who broke my dad's heart twenty years ago came waltzing back to him right as he was dieing and tried to be my friend then. And ten years later the same thing is happening. You tell **me** Catherine. **What should I be feeling?**"

"Is...that what you think?" asked Catherine.

"It's what he told me, at least before he became sick" said Marina. "I didn't get to talk to him when he was near the end, since he died when you came to see him."

"Then I suppose it is time you learned the truth," said Catherine. "About everything."

"What truth?" asked Marina, glaring at the older sniper suspiciously .

"Twenty years ago, near the end of EWI your father, Gustav, and I were indeed very much in love," began Catherine after a deep breath. "True, I was only sixteen and he was twenty two, but that's not really all that rare you know. I knew he had a four year-old daughter and that your mother had passed away when she gave birth to you, I was fine with all of it."

"So what's the point?" asked Marina. "Sound's pretty fairy-tailish if you ask me."

"I'm afraid that's where the fairy-tale ends," said Catherine. "During a battle, here, of all places, I watched my best friend, Pamela Coren, die because we had run out of ammunition. She told me to escape while she held the attacking Imperials at bay. I was so scared at the time I did exactly that. I didn't want to look back but the one time I did I saw her being shot to death."

"Pamela Coren? Wasn't that..."

Catherine nodded, wiping away a tear. "Yes, she was Juno's mother. Juno was only two at the time, so she knows nothing of this."

"So then what happened?" asked Marina.

"I suppose you could say I never stopped running since that day," said Catherine. "After witnessing her being killed...I began pushing everyone away from me, not wanting to ever experience the pain of losing someone close to me again. This included your father. When the war ended, I left without even saying goodbye to him. I guess that left him somewhat bitter, from what I'm hearing from you."

"..." Marina closed her eyes, trying to take in what Catherine was telling her.

"I regret doing what I did to him, I truly do," said Catherine, looking away from Marina. "When I received a letter from him ten years later asking for me to come see him because he did not have long to live, I decided to do so; I owed him that much at least. I told him everything right then and there. Imagine my surprise when he simply looked up at me and smiled, saying 'I understand' and 'to please take care of Marina'. And then he died..."

"Catherine..." Marina saw that Catherine had begun to cry, something she had never seen the older woman do.

"So if you still want to hate me, you can," cried Catherine, still looking away from Marina. "I won't blame you."

Marina picked up and held Catherine's right hand with her own. "Yeah I still hate you...Just not as much now.."

Catherine closed her eyes and hugged the younger woman. "Thank you for listening Marina."

"..." Marina remained silent as the two snipers embraced. Looking up at the night sky she began thinking to herself. _I wonder what you'd say right now Father...What should I be thinking?_

"...After this battle can you...tell me more about what Dad was like when you two were together?" she asked.

"Of course," said Catherine as she regained her composure. "It's a promise."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**The Naggiar Campaign is too epic for one chapter so it could take some time before the entire thing is done. That being said, I have no idea how many parts it will actually take. I intended this chapter to be longer but...you'll see why it isn't when you reach the end. Enjoy!

**Chapter 8 – The Naggiar Campaign - Part One - From Bad to Worse**

The morning sun shined upon the Naggiar Plains, revealing two forces gathered on either side, stretched out as far as the eye could see. Both the Imperial and Gallian forces were preparing for the inevitable battle that was most likely going decide the fate of Gallia, but it wasn't hard to see that the Gallian side was clearly outnumbered. Morale among the Gallian forces was poor at best, and it was this subject that was being discussed during the strategy meeting with Captain Varrot and the officers of Squad 7.

"So let me get this straight Elle," sighed Largo. "General Stupid expects us to take out not only the enemy's radio communications hub and central camp, but also two reinforced bunkers, five machine gun nests and Valkyrur knows how many troops between us and the objectives?"

"I don't like the situation any more than you do Largo," said Captain Varrot, pushing her glasses up. "I've tried and tried to tell General Damon that going on the offensive is unwise, but he will not budge from his strategy."

"It's like he's completely clueless to the situation," said Rosie as she shook her head. "Is there anything **else** we should be aware of?"

Captain Varrot gestured toward the map of the battleground. "As you can see, there is a large stretch of land between the trenches that separates our forces from theirs. We expect that the Imperials will be constantly bombarding this entire area with long range mortar rockets, hence why you must take out the radio communications that they have set up on their side."

"Then there's no way we can deploy either the Edelweiss or the Shamrock until then," said Welkin. "If the mortars don't kill us, then the heat from blasts will..."

"That means you won't be able to give us orders either Welkin..." noted Alicia.

"So we're supposed to run across a No-Man's Land, dodge mortars, bullets AND lancer rounds with zero armor support?" asked Edy, tugging on her right pigtail nervously.

"Is there any good news at least?" asked Zaka.

"There have been heavy winds in the area lately," said Varrot. "There is a possibility that there will be dust storms. There's no guarantee on that though. Also, Fina has been assigned to be your Squad's medic."

Largo let out a bitter laugh. "At least I'll have something pretty to look at when I croak then..."

Ignoring the comment, Varrot motioned back to the map. "I know it's not great, but I have a strategy as well. We will split the Squad into three groups for an attack on their defenses. Sergeant Melchiott, you will lead one group to attack the eastern side and take out the bunker and machine gun nests located there. Largo, you will do the same for the western side. Corporals Stark and Nelson, you will both lead the third group to attack the middle and if possible hit their bunker defenses from behind once inside the enemy trenches. Lieutenant Gunther and Sergeant Zaka will remain in the base camp to defend it until it is safe to deploy them."

"Looks like we got the easy job Edy," Rosie sarcastically told the other shocktrooper.

"You will begin the attack at noon," ordered Varrot. "That gives you two hours to get prepared. I wish you all luck out there."

__

"So what do you think Welkin?" Alicia asked as the group left the command tent. "Do you honestly think we have a chance?"

"Anything is possible," he said as he looked over the soon-to-be battlefield. "But there's not much I can do to help in this battle...It's going to fall on you four to lead the squad this time."

Rosie took a deep breath as she also surveyed the scenery. "This is really it huh?"

"You're not getting scared on me are ya Rosie?" asked Largo as he patted Rosie on the head.

"No that's not it," she growled, punching Largo's arm. "I've made my peace with it and all but looking at it now...It's just...heavy you know?"

"Can't say I disagree," nodded Largo. "Even back in EWI I can't say I've been in tighter spots than this."

Rosie looked over at Edy, noticing the younger shocktrooper had not said anything yet. "What about you kiddo?" she asked.

Edy closed her eyes and nodded. "We've made it this far right?" she said. "We can get through this too."

"That's the spirit Edy," said Welkin, giving her a thumbs-up. "Now as for the battle plan..."

"You got any ideas?" asked Alicia. "The Captain's plan was kinda vague after all."

"Well let's start with what we do know," said Rosie. "They've got us outnumbered, outgunned, and outclassed probably."

"True, but look at this," said Welkin as he kicked up a cloud of dust with his foot, inadvertently showering Alicia with it.

"Agh hey watch it!" fumed Alicia, knocking the dust away from her hair. "What was that for?!"

"Woops, sorry Alicia!" said Welkin. "But the point of that was to show that these plains are nearly as arid and dry as the Barious Desert."

"Meaning?" asked Rosie, not wanting to hear another history lesson.

"Well if the Captain is right and the Imperials use mortars in the middle area..." began Welkin.

"Instant dust storm!" Largo said as he pounded is right first into his left palm. "Score another one for the nature guy!"

"That's right," nodded Welkin. "If the dust becomes thick enough, Alicia and Largo can probably sneak a few units in with them to ambush the Imperials without having to dodge a lot of fire. If you strike hard and fast enough you should be able to ignite the the ragnite ammunition deposits that are stored at the rear of the bunkers without too much trouble."

"What about us?" asked Rosie, pointing at her and Edy.

"You'll have to charge straight ahead when the opportunity arises," explained Welkin. "Your job will be to divert the enemy's attention toward your group, making them think you're the only attacking force."

"And here I thought it was going to be hard," sighed Rosie. "But, hey, whatever you say Boss! Your crazy plans have worked so far, so there's no reason to doubt you now. Ain't that right Edy?"

Edy nodded. "I'll do my best too!"

"Don't forget that a lot of the fighting is going to be close quarters combat inside the trenches once you get to their side," added Welkin. "So make sure the scouts have their bayonets fixed on their rifles. Don't forget you guys have sidearms too; use them if you have to...It's better than nothing."

"So who's going with who?" asked Alicia.

"Alicia, I want you to take Aisha, Rosina and Dallas," said Welkin.

"You sure you wanna put a little girl in the front lines?" asked Largo, referring to the twelve year old shocktrooper Aisha Neumann.

"She's small, so she can slip by the enemies easier," said Welkin. "Plus she and Rosina have been working on a certain 'maneuver' that might come in handy."

"Whatever you say," sighed Largo. "What about me?"

"I want you to take Aika, Vyse and Ramsey," Welkin answered. "Edy and Rosie, you'll have Salinas, Freesia, Jann, Ted, Susie, Homer, Mica, Jane, and Elysse. The rest of the squad is going to defend our base from our trenches."

"Got something against snipers Boss?" asked Rosie.

"I need them to give you support from our trenches as well," explained Welkin. "They'll be able to provide some degree of suppressing fire for your attack, so it'll be up to you on how to use them. Also, even though we have Fina to act as our medic, she's only one person, so if you need to, have the engineer that I assigned to your groups to patch up anyone that's hurt."

"Hmm, this isn't sounding so bad," said Alicia. "At least the way you're describing it."

Welkin shrugged. "Well it's just an idea after all. Anyway, go ahead and get your groups ready to go."

__

Squad 7's camp quickly became very active upon receiving their orders from Welkin. Welkin watched as everyone began to scurry about, preparing for battle. Near the Edelweiss, he watched as Karl and Nadine set up sandbags for a final defense in the event that the Imperials overran his squad. He hoped it wouldn't be necessary, for even though he had the utmost faith in his squad, this was the one battle where it would take more than simple faith to get the job done. His thoughts were interrupted by what appeared to be an argument between Freesia York and Cezary Regard. Looking at them, Welkin noticed that in addition to the usual scout armor, Freesia also wore a pair of goggles on top of her head and a bright yellow muffler around her neck that also covered the bottom half of her face, her personal desert combat gear. That wasn't surprising to Welkin, for Freesia was a desert-bred soldier. Somewhat more surprising was that she was also carrying two scimitar style swords; the same swords that she often used to dance with when she occasionally performed for the squad.

"So what are you gunna do with those, huh?" smirked Cezary. "Dance the enemy to death with them?"

"Don't you have someone else to annoy?" sighed Freesia as she placed her swords in their scabbards that were strapped to her back. "Jerk."

"Well, there's an old saying that goes like this: Don't bring a knife to a gunfight," laughed Cezary, clearly enjoying Freesia's annoyed reaction.

In a flash Freesia drew one of her blades and pointed it Cezary, the point of her sword stopping an inch from his face. "I hear it's hard to pull a trigger when your hand is gone...or your head for that matter."

Welkin stepped forward and stopped the fight. "Save that energy for the Imperials guys," he sighed.

Freesia complied and returned her sword to its scabbard and hurried to take her place in Rosie and Edy's group. Cezary grumbled and shuffled over to his post at the eastern side of the forward trench.

Welkin sighed as he put his right hand over his forehead. _We haven't even started yet and we have people fighting already..._

__

Marina and Catherine were both keeping watch in the middle of the forward trench, constantly watching for any sign of Imperial movement through the scopes of their rifles. They had both heard the battle plan from Rosie and Edy, whose group they were next to. Secretly, they were both glad that they didn't have to join the attack groups, after all they were snipers and as such, they were not trained for close quarters combat other than the basics that were taught in training camp. The Imperials had begun to bombard the middle stretch of land between the two forces with mortars and as Welkin had predicted a large cloud of dust had begun to form. Suddenly Catherine nudged Marina in order to get her attention.

"You see anything out there?" she asked.

"No," replied Marina, still attempting to scan for any signs of motion that the dust might be covering. "What about you?"

Catherine sighed as she looked away from her scope. "I can't see a thing dear."

"Was it like this when you and my father fought here in the first war?" asked Marina, still scanning.

"No," answered the other sniper. "Believe it or not this place was covered in grass and trees back then. Such is the effect of war."

"So it seems," agreed Marina. "It's a shame that-" The sound of a lancer round flying above their heads interrupted Marina's sentence. Suddenly, dozens of Imperial troops began pouring out of the dust cloud.

"They're coming!" shouted Rosie. "Get into defensive positions!" _Damn, they used the strategy that we were going to use..._

Squad 7 quickly began returning fire at the attacking Imperials, dropping several of them within a few seconds. Their quick response, however, was not enough to stop the Imperials from reaching the squad's trench, and the battle quickly turned into what Welkin didn't want: a melee brawl with his Squad outnumbered.

"Emile! Oscar! Start laying suppressing fire near the top middle of the trench!" he ordered from atop the Edelweiss.

The Bielert brothers nodded and took their positions atop the Edelweiss itself and began picking off would be attackers as they approached the trench.

Welkin himself took control of the machine gun that was equipped on the Edelweiss and began firing in the same area that he had ordered the sniper siblings to shoot at. This slowed the progress of the Imperials, but there were still many more reaching the trench. _This isn't good, _he thought as he continued to fire. _I wasn't expecting this. Alicia and the others need to hold these guys off or it's all over..._

__

The fighting inside the trench had intensified to the point where the squad had been split in half with Alicia and Edy leading the left side and Rosie and Largo the right.

"Fight them back!" shouted Alicia as she shoved an enemy scout off of her. "There's nowhere for us to retreat, you hear?"

Marina and Catherine had already swapped their rifles for their sidearms, a Colt .45 and a Gallian PP7, respectively, and were behind Edy and Alicia, doing their best to stem the tide of the attacking Imperials. Next to them, Freesia and Jane were also firing at the approaching enemy.

"Die Imps die!" shouted Jane as she emptied clip after clip at the advancing Imperials.

"Don't go too crazy Jane!" warned Edy. "You can't kill anything when you're dead!"

"Eh crazy schmazy!" laughed Freesia as she began hacking away with her swords at any Imperials who were foolish enough to get within melee range of her. "They can't touch me!"

Edy and Alicia marveled at how Freesia was able to move with such grace and speed even in a situation like the one they were in. And laugh while she did it.

__

On the other side Largo and Rosie also had their hands full keeping the Imperials at bay. Although Largo could not fire his lancaar as such close range, his fists easily made up the difference. As he picked up and tossed a nearby Imperial trooper into a cluster of approaching Imperials, Vyse and Aika were fighting off a pair of scouts next to him. Like Freesia, Vyse also kept a pair of swords on him for melee purposes, but these were cutlass style swords, gifts from his father. Aika's Gallian rifle had jammed and she had to resort to her personal weapon, a razor sharp boomerang. As the two were forced back to the end of the trench, the situation was clearly not in their favor.

"Uh oh, looks like our hero's in trouble!" grinned Vyse in spite of the situation.

"Doesn't **anything** make you worry Vyse?" asked Aika as she dodged a bayonet thrust from the scout she was fighting.

"Nope!" laughed Vyse as he knocked the scout he was facing away from him.

As the fighting continued around her, Rosie suddenly remembered Leon's new attachment. Flicking the switch on the Flame Flail, the underside of her gun emitted an impressive spout of blue flame. Although the amount of fuel inside the cannister did not allow for a long term ragnite flame spray, the results were effective enough set an entire line of attacking Imperials on fire. The troops that were fortunate enough to not be immolated began to back up, not wanting to suffer the same fate.

"Hey, Edy," said Rosie over the radio, as she loaded another cannister into the attachment. "Use your Flame Flail!"

"Oh right!" answered Edy. "I forgot about that!" Pointing her weapon back at the numerous Imperials that were upon them, she activated the attachment. Just like Rosie's, her Flame Flail instantly caught the nearby enemies on fire, causing them to scream in fear and pain. When the fuel had run out, she watched as the surviving Imperials began to back away.

"Now's our chance!" shouted Edy. "Charge!"

The squad members cheered in response and began to chase the retreating Imperials. On the other side Rosie and Largo issued the same orders, and the Imperials suddenly found themselves surrounded on both sides within the trench and with no place to go. Within minutes, the entire invading Imperial force had been repelled.

__

"Whew," sighed Alicia as she loaded a fresh clip into her rifle. "That wasn't what I had in mind."

"Anyone hurt?" asked Edy over the radio as she stepped around the fallen bodies of the Imperials.

"Amazingly just a few minor stab wounds on a couple of people," replied Fina. "I'll have them back in shape in no time!"

"Well that's good," sighed Rosie as she and Largo rejoined Edy and Alicia.

"Think we'll still be able to use the plan?" asked Largo. "Looks like they thought of the same strategy we did."

"I think we still need to try it," said Alicia as the Imperial mortars resumed bombing. "At the very least, we thinned out their numbers."

"We don't have anything else to go on either," agreed Edy. "We won't do much sitting here so-"

"Edy look out!" shouted Alicia.

"Wha?" Edy spun around in time to see an injured Imperial scout pointing a rifle at her. Alicia quickly shot him but not before he was able to fire a round off. Instantly, Edy felt a sharp pain in her chest and stumbled backwards against the trench wall. Unable to draw a breath, she fell to her knees. As her vision blurred, she heard Alicia screaming for the medic just before losing consciousness...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – The Naggiar Campaign - Part 2 **-**Race Against Time**

She couldn't hear anything. Or feel anything. In the far reaches of her consciousness, Edy swore she could hear a voice calling her name. _I must be dead_, she thought as she slowly opened her eyes. _I was shot after all...So that means I must be in heaven or..._

As Edy's vision slowly returned to her, all she could see at first was a bright light followed by the outline of a face. As her vision slowly came into focus, the face appeared to be that of an angel; blue eyes, blond hair...The typical description she had read about. Suddenly her senses returned to her and it felt like a ton of bricks had just fell on top of her head. The sound of mortars and gunfire filled her ears. The face that she was looking at was not that of an angel but rather that of Homer Peron, who's features were difficult to make out due to the sun blinding her.

"If this is heaven," groaned Edy, "then God has a weird sense of humor..."

"Edy?!" gasped Homer, with a relieved expression. "Y-you're alive?!"

"It looks like it," said Edy as she sat up.

"You were shot point blank in the chest," said Alicia with a puzzled expression as Fina appeared next to her. "And you're fine? I don't believe it!"

"Neither do I," agreed Edy, reaching inside her BDU jacket. A moment later she revealed the reason why she was still alive. In her hand was the good-luck charm that Lynn had made for her, the bullet embedded inside a silver ducat piece that was inside a pouch in the center of the doll.

"You know," said Lynn, "When I said it was a protective charm, I didn't mean it in a literal sense!"

"But how does a silver piece stop a bullet?" asked Rosie.

"Well the Imperial ZM KAR series rifle uses a different type of ammunition than our Gallian series," explained Fina as she examined the bullet-embedded coin. "Those rounds are designed to lodge rather than penetrate. Plus at such short range, the bullet didn't have sufficient time to gain enough momentum to penetrate the coin completely."

"Well, that was a bit more info than I wanted," laughed Rosie. "But you **are** fine now right?"

"Well my right boob is gunna be sore for a bit but yeah," confirmed Edy as she returned the charm back inside her BDU jacket.

"Not to sound insensitive," said Largo, "But we need to attack soon if our plan is still gunna work. I don't think we can handle another Imperial attack."

"I'm ready," said Edy . "So how do we do this?"

"There's a one minute interval between the Imperial rocket salvos," said Alicia. "So basically you're going to have to run full steam at them if you wanna make it."

"Sounds fun," said Rosie as she watched as more Imperial rocket mortars blast the no-mans land. "Well, hurry up and get your groups in position you two! We need to hit em before they can regroup and attack us again."

Largo and Alicia nodded and took their group members and went to their respective sides.

"I hope this won't end up like Marberry," sighed Edy as she watch the two groups leave. "I don't think I can take losing another friend."

"Me neither," agreed Rosie. "But we gotta trust the boss' plan on this, or we'll all wind up with Isara a lot sooner than we planned to."

The two listened as another Imperial rocket salvo hammered the area.

"Get ready guys," announced Rosie over the radio. "We're going to go after the next round of rockets have been fired."

"Just stick with us and you'll be fine," said Edy to her group. "We've made it this far, so there's no reason why we won't make it out alive this time too."

She watched as her group members nodded and steeled themselves for the charge that was to come. Their eyes showed a mixture of fear and anticipation. Edy couldn't blame them for this; after all, it was very likely that they would all be killed once they began the attack. Edy herself wasn't quite prepared to go meet her family in heaven just yet though, and if she died then who would lead the Edy Detachment? Marina? Edy giggled slightly at the thought.

_Bakoom! Bakoom!_ The sound for Imperial mortar rockets snapped Edy's attention back to the battlefield and the now large cloud of dust that blanketed the middle zone. The time to charge was now, and there would be no going back from this point onward...

"Let's do this!" shouted Rosie as Edy shouted "Charge!"

Alicia watched from her side as Edy and Rosie's group plunged into the dust cloud. She wanted nothing more than to be with them as they ran toward the other side, but both her and Largo's group had to wait until the middle group had breached the enemy's trench so that the other two groups could make a run at the bunkers unnoticed. Provided Edy and Rosie's group survives long enough that is, or even makes it to the enemy trench...

__

Alicia's fears weren't without merit, for as soon as as Edy and Rosie's group emerged from the dust cloud they found themselves charging straight into an entire squad of Imperial shocktroopers that were dug in behind sandbags, thus effectively blocking the entrance to the trench.

"Elysse! Jann! Blow those sandbags now!" shouted Rosie as she and the other non-lancers dropped to the ground.

"You got it honey!" shouted Jann as he and Elysse each launched a round into the sandbags. The blitzkrieg proved effective as the sandbag blockade was blown away and the troopers behind it were left staggering in surprise. Not wasting any time, Rosie and Edy set upon them with their Flame Flails, incinerating all ten troopers in a matter of seconds. Paying little heed to the dying screams, the group pressed onward into the trench, preparing to push deeper. They were met with some resistance, but nothing that they couldn't handle.

"This is almost too easy," said Rosie as she turned on her radio receiver. "Hey, Alicia, Largo. We made it to the other side, and I think we got their attention."

"Roger that," answered Alicia. "On our way,"

"Leave some of them for us eh?" said Largo.

"I'm sure there's plenty left for you guys," sighed Rosie as she turned her attention back to the battle and the large number of Imperial soldiers that were starting to appear from either side in front of them.

"Maybe not..." muttered Rosie as her group began returning fire.

__

The sound of more mortar fire signaled that it was time for Alicia and Largo's groups to make their move. The trip across the middle area was quick and easy, even with Aisha falling slightly behind. Emerging from the dust, both groups found no resistance at all on either side, meaning that the plan had gone even better than planned, and that destroying the bunkers seemed a much more realistic task than before. Alicia's group quickly hurried along the trenches and positioned themselves below the bunker on their side, but soon found themselves with no way to get up to it as there was no ladder to climb.

"Great! Now what?" asked Dallas as she looked up at the seven foot high trench wall.

"Hey Aisha, wanna try out that little thing we've been practicing?" asked Rosina as she set her lancaar launcher down on the ground.

"Yeah!" answered the shocktrooper. "Aisha's ready to go! Oh, can Aisha get some spare grenades from you Dallas?"

"Uh, sure..." trailed Dallas as she opened her ammo box and handed Aisha a pair of grenades. "But how are you going to get up there?"

"Watch and see," grinned Rosina as she crouched down and cupped her hands in front of her. Alicia and Dallas watched as Aisha ran up to Rosina and was vaulted upwards and over the trench wall and landing right behind the bunker. The young shocktrooper recalled the plan to detonate the ragnite ammunition and after spotting it, took the two grenades that Dallas gave her and two others that she had with her and pulled the ripcords on each simultaneously and placed them on the ammunition pile and jumped back into the trench as the ammunition exploded, the result being the bunker collapsing.

"Hey good job Aisha!" praised Alicia as she patted the young soldier on the head. She then turned on her receiver. "Hey Largo, we got rid of the bunker on our side; how's things on your end?"

"Not bad," answered a gruff voice on the other end. "You'll see in about five...four...three..."

A few seconds later Alicia heard an explosion and saw that the bunker on the other side was a smoking ruin as well.

"Alright!" said Rosina as she pumped her fist. "So what's the plan now?"

Alicia thought for a moment before coming up with a decision. "We should probably join up with Rosie and Edy. Come on."

__

Although Alicia and Largo's teams had been successful, Rosie and Edy's team found themselves pinned down halfway to the enemy's radio communications camp by two machine gun nests and with more Imperials rushing into the trench, it was clear that reinforcements were needed and Edy relayed this to Welkin over the radio.

Back at Squad 7's main camp Welkin heard the message and began to relay orders to some of the remaining members that were guarding the camp.

"Looks like it's now or never guys," he said to the others. "Marina and Catherine go and make for western side of their trenches and see if you can use the area near the destroyed bunker to snipe from."

"As you command," replied Marina as she and Catherine hurried away in preparation to make their run.

"Cezary, I need you and Lynn to join up with the middle group," ordered Welkin.

Cezary sighed at the order. "I gotta partner up with a dark-hair?" he asked. "Don't I have all the luck..."

"You got a problem with it?" demanded Lynn as she put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, but whatever," answered the sniper. "An order is an order. Let's go, just don't slow me down."

Welkin sighed as he watch the two hurry off toward the end of the trench but had no time to wonder about their situation as another voice came over the radio, this time belonging to Faldio Landzaat, the leader of Squad 1.

"Hey, Welkin I don't mean to worry you," reported Faldio. "But that Valkyrur general has been laying waste to my unit and we've got no choice but to retreat to your position..."

"But we have no way to defend our camp from her," said Welkin in disbelief. "And with those mortar rockets still coming in, we can't even deploy the Edelweiss or the Shamrock!"

"Well, I hope your troops can get the job done soon, because there's only a handful of my squad left," answered Faldio. "You'll see what I mean when we meet up with you."

_What do I do now? _Welkin put his hand to his forehead as he tried to ponder another plan to defend his camp from what appeared to be an unstoppable enemy.

__

Cezary and Lynn had just made the daunting run across the middle zone and jumped into the trench when they spotted a small group of imperial troopers ahead of them heading toward Edy and Rosie's group.

"We need to take them out fast or they'll kill Edy's group from behind in a matter of seconds!" said Lynn.

"Yeah, sure," said Cezary as he sized up the situation. "I'll back you up..."

"Just don't shoot **me** you got that?" demanded Lynn as she rushed behind the group to ambush them.

As Cezary raised his rifle to target the back of one of the Imperial's heads he thought to himself about how shooting her wouldn't be such a bad idea...

Lynn moved silently behind the Imperial group, grenade in hand, careful not to make any sudden noises because if they saw her, she would be killed, no doubt about it. Fortunately for her, they were focused entirely on striking Edy and Rosie's group from behind and paid no attention to their backs. As she raised her hand to toss the grenade, a shot rang out from behind her and she watched as a sniper bullet struck one of the Imperials in the head. The remaining five spun around and watched as Lynn quickly tossed the grenade. _Damn it Cezary, you shot too early on purpose!_ Lynn thought as she pulled out her machine gun. She wasn't fast enough though and she was instantly shot several times, the bullets striking her in her legs and chest. Grimacing through the pain she was able to take down the other Imperials before finally collapsing to the ground.

Cezary walked up to her with his trademark smirk and watched as she bled on the ground.

"Help..me..." gasped Lynn as she looked up at him pleadingly, coughing up some blood as she did.

"Sorry but I don't have time to babysit you," chuckled Cezary as he knelt down and removed Lynn's radio earpiece and took her gun. He then whispered into her ear, "Have fun rotting in hell, you dark-hair slut.."

"Cezary...you...bastard!" coughed Lynn as she watched the sniper run away toward the middle group. _I should have seen this coming...And now Cezary is going to look like a hero when it's all said and done_... Lynn looked at the sky as she continued to bleed out into the trench. "Karl...I love you," she whispered as her vision began to dim. "I'll always..." As the world faded to darkness she thought she could hear footsteps coming from somewhere behind her...

__

By this time, Marina and Catherine had finally reached the remains of the destroyed western Imperial bunker and had taken their positions atop what was left of the bunker roof.

"I see two gun nests on either side and twenty soldiers in the center," said Marina as she scouted out the situation through her scope. "Edy certainly has her hands full."

"At least she's alive," commented Catherine as she looked at Edy through her scope. "It seems Alicia and Largo's groups have joined up with them as well but they're not gaining any ground."

Welkin's voice suddenly came over the radio. "I don't mean to worry you all with this but Squad 1 has been pretty much wiped out by the Imperial Valkyrur general. If we don't take out the enemy radio communications camp soon, she'll wipe us out too."

"Great," muttered Marina as she stared down at the left machine gun nest. "Let's get to work Catherine. I'll take out the left nest, you deal with the right one."

"Sounds good," said the older sniper. "On my mark then. Three, two, one.."

The simultaneous c_rack_ of their rifles sounded the doom of the two machine gunners that were responsible for pinning down the main group. As other Imperial troops moved to man the guns, they too fell to the dual snipers.

"Too easy," said Marina as she took out another would-be gunner. "That makes five for me."

"Only three for me," sighed Catherine. "I must be losing my touch."

"Maybe you're just getting old," chuckled Marina as she watched as the middle group take out the Imperials that were hiding behind the middle sandbags with several well-placed lancer rounds.

"That's not very nice," huffed Catherine as she set her rifle down and looked at Marina. She was about to say something else when she saw that three Imperial scouts had somehow sneaked up on them and was about to shoot Marina.

"Watch out!" shouted Catherine as she threw herself at the scouts. Marina wheeled around in time to see Catherine kick one of the scouts off the bunker before getting stabbed with a bayonet from behind.

"Catherine!" screamed Marina as she saw her friend crumple to the ground. Drawing her Colt .45, Marina shot the second scout directly in the head. Although the armor of the standard Imperial helmet was strong enough to stop most small arms fire, the Colt .45 was anything but. Marina watched as the the scout was blown off the bunker from the force of the shot and turned around to face the final scout. His rifle had jammed and had a combat knife in his hand, ready to charge at her. Marina couldn't help but smirk at this before emptying the remaining five rounds of her Colt .45 into him. When he fell over dead, the realization that Catherine might be dead as well suddenly registered to her.

"Catherine, say something!" said Marina as rushed over to her friend and held her in her arms. "Medic! Corporal O'Hara has been seriously injured! I need assistance now!"

"Roger that," acknowledged Fina, who was with Edy's group. "I'm on my way!"

"Me too!" said Ted. "Can't have our Medic go unprotected now. Hang in there Marina!"

Marina opened Catherine's BDU jacket and saw that she was bleeding heavily. Reaching for her ragnaid device, Marina's heart sank as she saw that the glass shield on the top had been shattered, rendering the device and medicine within useless. Making matters worse was the knowledge that Catherine didn't carry ragnaid, opting for additional ammunition instead.

"Catherine, if you die now, I swear I'll hate you forever," sobbed Marina as she held her friend's head close to hers. "Wake up..."

When she got no response, Marina began to cry, the first time she had done so since the death of her father. The only person who really understood her and had been there for her even when she didn't want it was now going to be taken away from her. "Please God, don't take her away from me," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "She's the closest thing to a mother I've got..."

"That's...nice of you to say, Marina dear," said Catherine in a weak voice. "That's more like the sweet girl I once knew."

"What?" Marina looked down at Catherine's face and saw that she was alive, albeit barely. "You're okay?"

"It's not the first time I've been bayoneted dear," coughed Catherine. "Still hurts though. I'll be alright provided Fina doesn't take her time getting to me."

"That's good," said Marina as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did...you really mean what you just said?" asked Catherine.

"...Maybe," huffed Marina, feeling her face get hot. "Better not tell anyone."

Catherine managed a weak laugh. "Wouldn't dream of it Marina dear."

__

With the middle area cleared and the machine gun nests dealt with, the path to the radio communications camp was clear, and with Edy and Rosie leading the charge, they made their way into it, scattering the few remaining Imperials left.

"Alright guys," announced Largo with a grin on his face. "Let's blow this place sky high!"

"Roger that!" said Rosina as she and the other lancers aimed their launchers at the radio tower and a moment later blew it to pieces.

"Well that should stop the mortar rockets at least," sighed Homer as he began to scan the area for mines.

"But what about the Valkyrur?" asked Edy. "This will be meaningless if she blows us all up or something!"

Alicia activated her radio. "Welkin we've taken out the Imperial radio camp. What's the situation now?"

Back at the Gallian camp, Welkin was seeing the arrival of what was left of Squad 1. Faldio wasn't joking about his squad being wiped out. Other than Faldio, there were only three members of his squad still alive...Upon hearing Alicia's report he scanned the battlefield for the Imperial Valkyrur general, Selvaria Bles, and spotted her retreating back to the Imperial lines.

"I think she's retreating," sighed Welkin. "We're saved. Good work everyone." The battle was over. For now at least.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long to update, but that's what happens when your monitor blows up and you can't write stories on a PS3~.~

**Chapter 10-The Naggiar Campaign – part 3 Surprises Come in all Sizes**

As the first day's fighting drew to a close, Squad 7 had successfully captured the central Imperial main base along with the successful disabling of the Imperial radio communications. Unfortunately the victory by the Sevens was essentially the only ground gained at all by the Gallians, mostly due to the Empire's numerical superiority as well as the power that was the Imperial Valkyria, General Selvaria Bles. Though the battle thus far could technically be considered a stalemate, it didn't take a strategist to see that the Empire had more or less come out on top by the day's end. The mood of Squad 7 wasn't very good either as Welkin and Zaka arrived in the new camp in their tanks.

"Jeez look at that," said Rosie as she surveyed the battleground. The remains of destroyed tanks and dead soldiers littered the area as far as the eye could see, and there were far more that were Gallian than Imperial.

"That's the true power of the Valkyria..." trailed Largo as the dusk sky began to turn orange.

Atop the Edelweiss, Welkin couldn't help but agree, yet there was a more pressing issue at hand. Looking down at Alicia he let out a worried sigh.

"Well we managed to take their main camp, but took heavy losses in the process," he said. "We can't hold it the way things are now; we need to call for additional troops."

Alicia looked up at Welkin and nodded. "I'll go gather the rest of the Squad then..."

__

_Welkin, forgive me..._

__

As Alicia was about to turn to leave, a shot rang out from the distance and Alicia seemed to freeze in place for a moment. A few seconds later, she fell to her knees as a large patch of red formed on the upper left corner of her BDU jacket.

"Alicia!" screamed Welkin as she fell to ground. Jumping off his tank he rushed to her side.

"But we got em all!" said Rosie as she and Zaka looked around in vain for the shooter.

"We don't have time to search right now," said Largo as he examined Alicia with Welkin. "We need to get Alicia to safety right now!"

It was all Welkin could do to keep himself from panicking. Still, Largo's words registered to him and he picked Alicia up and rushed her to the far side of the camp where the recently set up medical tent was located.

__

Edy was already at the medical tent, receiving treatment for a cut on her forehead by Homer when she saw Welkin rush by with Alicia in his arms, followed a moment later by Largo and Rosie.

"Huh, what happened?" asked Edy when Rosie stopped to talk to her.

"Alicia's been shot," sighed Rosie as she cast a worried glance at the medical tent. "A sniper's the most likely culprit, but there's no way for us to know until Fina can do her thing."

"Poor Fina," said Homer as he put a bandage on Edy. "She's already got her hands full with Catherine and now Miss Alicia..."

"Homer, show some consideration!" fumed Edy as she slugged her boyfriend in the stomach. "Alicia could die you know!"

"S-sorry..." groaned Homer as he fell to his knees.

Edy sighed and looked at the ground. "Poor Alicia... If we lose her, we're totally sunk..."

"Yeah," said Rosie as she watched Karl approach them. "I'm not sure if we can take any more bad news right now..."

"H-hey guys..." said Karl as he nervously fidgeted with his glasses.

"Oh, hey Karl what's up?" Asked Edy.

"It's about Lynn... Have you guys seen her around?"

"She's not with you?" asked Homer as he finally got back to his feet. "Odd...Welkin told us that she was sent over here with Cezary during our attack."

"That's what he told me, so I went and asked Cezary and he said that they had gotten separated in the trenches and hasn't seen her since..."

Edy cast a worried glance at Rosie, who was trying to come up with an explanation.

"Well she hasn't been reported dead," offered Homer. "So at the very worst maybe she was captured."

"What?!" shouted Karl. "If the Imperials got her, she may as well be dead!"

"Way to go Homer!" shouted Edy as she gave him a swift kick to the groin. "Do you seriously think about what you say before you spout off like that?!"

"C-critical hit..." gasped Homer as he collapsed to the ground once again.

Rosie walked up to Karl and put a hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't say she's dead. She probably just got separated is all. I bet another squad found her so just wait and see."

Karl seemed to gain a little composure from Rosie's reassurance. "Yeah, I bet that's what happened...Sorry to bother you guys...I think I'll go work on the Shamrock for a bit to clear my head."

Edy and Rosie watched as the engineer walked away to begin his task.

"Do you really think she's okay?" Edy asked her counterpart.

"..." Rosie looked at the ground, unable to give an answer. "I'm going to check on Alicia..."

"C-can I get some help down here?" moaned Homer as Rosie left.

"No!" shouted Edy. She was about to add another insult when the sound of a horn beeping caught her attention. Looking up she saw a Gallian jeep drive up to her. Nothing could have prepared her for who she saw in the driver's seat. A female scout, strawberry blonde hair pinned in a side upward spiral...It couldn't be...

"Ramona?!"

"Hey I finally found you guys!" announced Ramona Linton as she hopped out of the jeep.

"What are you doing here?" asked Edy as hugged her best friend. "I thought..."

"I woke up a few hours after the Militia left," explained Ramona. "When I heard about an epic battle that was going to take place here from the doctors, I had to come!"

"The doctors cleared you so soon?" asked Homer, still writhing on the ground.

"Um...about that," Ramona gave a nervous laugh. "They wouldn't give me clearance to leave the infirmary so I kinda snuck out and 'borrowed' this jeep. Um is he gunna be okay?"

"He'll live," huffed Edy. "So you're okay now?"

"I'm a little stiff from being out for so long and..." Ramona put an hand over her stomach. "Really, really hungry."

"I'm sure we can find you something," replied Edy. "We've got a lot of catching up to do!"

__

Nighttime came quickly over the Naggiar Plains, and for Marina, the dark sky complemented her mood perfectly. With Catherine and Alicia seriously injured and the news of Lynn's disappearance, there wasn't much for her to be happy about. After four hours of fruitless scanning of the surrounding area for the sniper that shot Alicia, she conceded to the night sky. It wouldn't do any good to run herself ragged with only the first day of battle completed, and she was already stressed enough as it is. Target practice was her chief stress reliever, but since that wasn't possible she resorted to her late father's pastime, cigar smoking. Even though she enjoyed it, Marina didn't smoke them very often, mainly because Catherine would always complain that it was extremely unladylike to do so. But Catherine was incapacitated at the moment, and even though it was a bit cruel, Marina was somewhat glad for this, as it meant she would not have any unwanted interruptions. Or so she thought. With half of her cigar finished, she had begun taking a few puffs when she saw Ted approaching her. She tried to pretend to not notice him, but it was too late.

"Whoa hey 'Rina," said Ted as he flashed her his best smile. "I didn't know you smoked those! That's...really cool actually."

Marina responded by blowing a cloud of smoke in his face, causing him to cough.

"Agh hey that wasn't funny!" complained Ted as he fanned the smoke away.

"Well then, I guess there **is **something we have in common..." trailed Marina, expecting Ted to take the hint and leave.

"Ouch you wound me fair lady!" cried Ted, doing his best Shakespearian impression. "Is there no warmth in thine heart for me?"

"Want me to wound you for real?" growled Marina as she gave him an icy glare from her right eye.

Ted let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm gunna get a laugh out of you one of these days, trust me."

"That'll be the day..." said Marina as she took a few more puffs from her cigar.

"You owe me a date if I do!" announced Ted. "I'm gunna find a way!"

"Fine," agreed Marina, even though the bet seemed inherently unfair. "If it will make you go away."

"All right!" cheered Ted as he pumped his fists in the air. "Time to put together my best material! Hehe, I got this one in the bag for sure!"

Marina sighed as she watched an excited Ted run back to his best friend Melville. _What did I get myself dragged into, _she wondered as she tossed the remains of her cigar into a nearby campfire. _Oh well, it's not like he's got a fighting chance._

__

In an unknown area of the battlefield Lynn awoke to find herself near a small campfire, very much alive and very sore. Noticing her BDU jacket was removed and that her legs and chest had several bandages applied to them, she tried to sit up, only to gasp when a sharp pain tore through her body forcing her to lie back down.

"You're awake I see," said a nearby unfamiliar female voice. "Don't try to move, otherwise you'll reopen your injuries."

"Where am I?" groaned Lynn as she heard the person walking toward her. "The last thing I remember I was shot up and bleeding to death in a trench..."

"Lucky for you I found you then," replied her rescuer. Kneeling down next to her, the person jammed a syringe filled with liquid Ragnaid into Lynn's neck and applied the medicine. "Sorry about the pain, but you lost a lot of blood and you need a fairly large amount of Ragnaid to sustain you for the time being."

Lynn looked up to see who this mystery person was and saw only the bottom part of a face, the top half obscured by the hood of a cloak that had the Gallian camouflage color scheme. She appeared to be in her mid thirties, and in good shape at that. She wore the standard Gallian female uniform from what Lynn could tell, but there was no rank patch, class markings, or name patch and the squad patch appeared to be a black version of the unicorn emblem on a red background. Lynn had never seen such a patch before, and thus became suspicious.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Gallia's dark little secret," replied the woman as she put a cigarette to her lips. "Nothing that concerns you. Not at the moment at least."

"Huh?" Lynn was even more confused. "I don't get it. What do you want with me? Where are we?!"

"You're in Naggiar, obviously," said the woman as she lit her cigarette. "Just not in a Gallian camp. Yet. As for why I bothered to rescue you, it's not because I like Darcsens, believe me."

"Then why?" groaned Lynn, her injuries giving her a painful reminder to not make any sudden movements.

"You're affiliated with a young lady named Edy Nelson are you not?" asked the woman as she took a drag of her cigarette.

"Yeah she's my group leader, so?"

"You will tell me what you know about her," replied the woman. "Do this and you'll wake up tomorrow in a far more pleasant camp than the one you're in now."

"What makes you think I'll cooperate with you?!" demanded Lynn. "You could be a spy for all I know!"

"Because if you don't I will finish the job that your sniper 'friend' intended to do," replied the woman as she drew a sword and held it at Lynn's throat. "I'd rather not stain my blade with the blood of my own countrymen, so I think the correct answer should be obvious."

"All right," coughed Lynn, recognizing the blade to be of Japanese descent. "Just put that thing away."

"Good answer," a cold smile appeared on the woman's lips as she put the blade away. "Now then, start talking."

__

"Wow so you've moved up I see," said Ramona as she gobbled more of Largo's freshly made vegetable soup. "I really have missed out on a lot sis."

Edy blushed slightly at Ramona's 'sis' reference. Even though Ramona was barely a year older than her, she often said that Edy was the little sister she never had and generally referred to her as such.

"It's not been all fun and games that's for sure," sighed Edy. "But hey that's a story for another time! You don't know how happy I am just having you with me again!"

Ramona laughed. "I'm glad to hear that. Oh, by the way um, are you and Homer..."

"Yeah that's a long story too," giggled Edy.

"I'm sure it is," smiled Ramona as she finished her food. "But it's getting late..."

Edy nodded. "Yeah let's called it a night. I'm sure we've got a busy day tomorrow."

******

**The Chapter's a bit short I know, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter I promise! As for who the mystery woman that Lynn is with, well...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 -The Naggiar Campaign – Part 4 Off On The Wrong Foot**

The second day of the Naggiar Campaign did not start out well for Squad 7, with Welkin and the rest of the squad's main officers forced to intercept an incoming Imperial raiding party. Edy and her group however, had been excluded from that particular operation and she was in a heated argument with Captain Varrot as to the reason why.

"Why am I not on the mission with the others?!" demanded Edy, her face turning red. "Have I not proven myself capable enough?!"

"Yes you have Corporal Nelson," replied a calm Eleanor Varrot. "More so than I expected."

"Then why in the name of Valkyrur leave me out of this operation?!" shouted Edy.

"Because," answered a still calm Varrot. "I'm sending you and your team on another operation."

"But we're still missing Lynn," countered Edy. "The group's not in any shape to go without her."

"I thought you wanted a mission?" asked Varrot.

"That's..." Edy knew that she was beaten on that point.

"As for Private Lynn, I've received a report that she's turned up in the medical camp at the western front this morning." Added Varrot.

"Really?! Is she okay?"

Varrot looked down at a report in front of her before answering. "It seems she suffered some serious injuries but she should survive... Strangely though, according to the report, she was found unconscious and already treated for many of those injuries."

Edy scratched her head at the news. "So...someone found her, fixed her up and then dropped her off?"

Captain Varrot nodded. "...From what I've read it that's what it seems. The doctors are just as puzzled, but from what this report says, Private Lynn would be dead now if it wasn't for whoever found her."

"Well that's good I guess," said Edy. "But she can't fight in the shape she's in, I'm sure."

"Correct. But I'm sure you can find a certain...scout that will make for an ample replacement for the time being..."

Edy sighed. _Nothing gets past the Captain does it?_ "So what's the mission?"

"The militia's main supply base on the eastern end of the front is somewhat vulnerable," explained Captain Varrot as she gestured toward a spot on the map of the battlefield. "I'd like you and your team to go and check things out there."

"That's it?" asked Edy, who knew full well that the supply base was probably the safest place on the battlefield; for anyone in the militia anyway. "That's the mission? Are you trying to make fun of me?"

"Know your place Corporal," snapped Varrot. "You have your orders. Now gather your group and head out..."

"Yes, Ma'am..." sighed Edy, with a dejected salute. As she left the Captain let out a sigh of her own. _I don't like sending you there myself, but..._

__

Edy's sudden foul mood from her new orders was made immediately known to Homer as he found himself on the wrong end of her right fist almost as soon as she had left the command tent.

"Wh-what was that for..." moaned Homer. "I didn't even **do **anything this time..."

"Shut up and find Elysse and Ted for me will you," growled Edy. "We've got some new orders..."

Homer straightened himself and nodded. "What does the Captain want us to do?"

"Guard duty," sighed Edy. "Now hurry up unless you want another punch."

Edy watched as Homer ran off to find the requested detachment members. She knew Marina would most likely be with Catherine, and as for Ramona...

"Wow you're already in a bad mood Sis?"

Edy turned to see her best friend approaching her. "Uh...you saw that huh?"

Ramona nodded. "You're lucky he doesn't mind that sort of thing, but can't you be...nicer to him sometimes?"

Edy chuckled. "Sure, when he deserves it. Which will probably be never."

Ramona rolled her eyes and laughed. _It's good to see she hasn't changed too much. _"So what's the with the sour attitude? Did something happen?"

"We're getting sent out to the supply outpost on the edge of the battlefield," Edy grumbled. "Real exciting."

Ramona scratched her head. "The supply base? To do what, take inventory?"

Edy kicked up a small amount of dust with her left boot before answering. "Sounds like it. And even though they've found Lynn, she's too hurt to return so the Captain wants you to take her place."

"Really?" asked Ramona with a smile. "Sure, I don't mind Sis."

Edy wasn't nearly as happy. "I...don't want you to though."

The statement hit Ramona hard. "Why not?!"

"I don't want you to get hurt again because of me," said Edy as she looked away from her friend. "I don't think I can take that again."

"Well I guess you're gunna have to take good care of me then," huffed Ramona. "There's no way you're leaving me out of this and you know it. So don't go thinking you're going to hog all the spotlight."

Edy knew there was no point trying to argue any further because once Ramona had made up her mind about something, there was no stopping her. And this time wouldn't be an exception.

"Still stubborn as always I see," said Edy as she put her hand on her forehead. "Okay, okay. Let's go get Marina then."

__

Marina was indeed with Catherine in the medical tent as Edy had surmised earlier. Both she and the bedridden Catherine were talking to Fina when Edy and Ramona arrived.

"Ah, Edy, good timing," said the Medic with a concerned look as the pair walked up to Marina. "I was just about to ask these two about something, and I thought maybe you might be able to shed some light on something for me as well."

"Sure what is it?"

Fina held out her right hand and opened up her palm, revealing a spent ammunition round of which Edy did not recognize.

"What kind of bullet is that?" asked Ramona who shared her friend's confusion.

"I was hoping one of you could tell me," replied Fina. "I've not seen one like this before."

The confused expressions on Edy and Ramona were not shared by Marina and Catherine.

"That's a round from the new Brondel prototype rifle we've been testing with Juno," said Marina as she narrowed her visible eye at the item in question.

"Indeed it is," confirmed Catherine. "The rifle isn't in use yet because the round is too soft for the distance the rifle is meant to be used from."

Ramona scratched her head as she looked at the round. "Well that's informative but um...Where'd you find that anyway?"

Fina didn't answer and instead seemed to have a dazed look about her after receiving the information from the two snipers.

"Uh hello?" asked Ramona as she waved her hand in front of the medic. "Earth to Finaaa~"

"Oh sorry about that," said Fina as her attention snapped back to the present.

"You okay dear?" asked Catherine. "You don't look so good."

"I guess I'm feeling a bit..What's that word you use Catherine...Dodgy?" sighed Fina as she pocketed the ammo round.

"Well you **have** been working non-stop since the battle started," noted Edy. "You're probably just tired."

Ramona nodded assent. "Yeah, don't overdo it."

"So what's with the ammo round?" asked Marina. "Why do you have it?"

"Oh it's...it's nothing," replied Fina, who was obviously lying. "Sorry to bother you all with it. Um, could you guys excuse me, there's something I need to do..."

The four watched as Fina hurriedly left the medical tent.

"What's with her?" asked Ramona as she scratched her head. "She was acting kinda...weird."

"She's been like that ever since she finished operating on Alicia," explained Catherine. "She's probably just stressed out I think. Extracting bullets is a difficult business. I certainly don't envy her."

Edy wasn't completely convinced on that point but decided to remain silent. After all, thinking wasn't her strong point to begin with. After a moment she remembered that the entire reason for coming to the medical tent was to inform Marina of the detachment's new orders.

"Understood," responded Marina after Edy filled her in on the mission. "Give me a few minutes to get prepared."

Edy nodded and left the tent along with Ramona. Once outside, the distant sound of cannon and gunfire could be heard in the distance.

"Empire's not wasting any time are they Sis?" mused Ramona as the pair walked toward the jeep that Ramona had arrived in the previous day.

"And we're not going to be anywhere near them," sighed Edy. "I still can't believe Captain Varrot is dumping us off away from the fighting..."

Ramona shrugged. "But that's one thing less to worry about right? Don't be so glum."

"But the mission is something more suitable for Aisha or even clumsy Nancy," grumbled Edy. "It doesn't make sense to send us just to do a routine check up." She watched as Ramona began staring at her for some reason. "W-what? Is there something on my face?"

"Are you **still** wearing those ribbons I gave you?" asked Ramona with a sigh. "They're all torn now!"

"Well they're all I had to remind myself of you..." answered Edy with a downward glance. "I couldn't bring myself to use another pair."

"Well it's time to retire them now that I'm back," said Ramona as she began untying them from from her friend's hair. "You can scrapbook em or something later."

"H-hey wait," protested Edy as Ramona removed the final ribbon. "I don't have any more with me here!"

"Well I'll get you some more when we get back to base," answered the fashion model. "So for the time being..."

Ramona handed Edy the ribbons and began straightening her friend's hair out with the hairbrush that she always seemed to have with her.

"You know, you look good with your hair like this Sis."

"I-I dunno about that," blushed Edy as Ramona finished with her hair. "It'll be a pain to wash I bet..."

"Oh quit being so modest," said Ramona as she examined her handiwork. "You'd make a good model if the whole acting thing doesn't work out, you know."

"Maybe..."

"Yeah, looking good!" smiled Ramona with a wink and a thumbs up.

The sudden appearance of Homer and the two members he was sent out to retrieve interrupted their conversation.

"Well I found them for you Edy," said Homer. "You're...not still mad are you?"

"What did you do to her this time Homer?" laughed Ted.

"N-nothing this time," assured the engineer. "She just came up to me and-" His sentence was cut off by a quick headlock from Edy.

"That's enough Homer dear~" warned his girlfriend. "I think it's best you keep quiet for now~"

"Isn't it a little early for that?" asked Elysse as she fidgeted with her lancaar launcher. "Poor guy never gets a break...And what's with the hair?"

Edy was trying to come up with a response, but Marina's arrival gave her the opportunity to change the subject.

"Well now that we're all here, I guess we can go to the supply base to begin our 'mission',"

Elysse scratched her head. "That's what we're supposed to do? Guess I won't have to try too hard then..."

Ted's reaction was a bit more upbeat. "Doesn't sound real hard, but if that's what we're ordered to do, we gotta do it. That being said, I'm driving!"

The other five each gave a collective sigh but let him have his way.

__

The supply camp was quiet when the Edy Detachment arrived and upon closer inspection, was also completely unguarded.

"Hello~" shouted Ramona as she and the others looked around. "Anybody home?"

The only response was the background noise of distant battle. Edy then decided to split the group up to look around.

"Why would this place be completely abandoned?" asked Homer through the radio as he looked around the area. "It makes no sense."

"No clue," replied Ted as he looked inside a nearby tent. "All the stuff seems to be in place though..."

Edy and Ramona were on the opposite side of the camp searching for any sign of occupants but like the others, their efforts were fruitless.

"Nothing up here..." reported Marina from one of the watchtowers that was situated in the middle of the camp. She was about to climb down when she noticed something strange. "Um, Edy..."

"Yeah what's up?" asked the group leader.

"There's only supposed to be six of us here right?"

"Uh..." Edy took a moment to make sure that statement was correct. _There's me, Ramona, Ted, Marina, Elysse and...Homer. Six. _"Yeah that's right."

"Well, there's seven here now..." Marina noted as she watched a cloaked Gallian soldier approaching Edy and Ramona from behind. "And the odd man out is right behind you."

Surprised, Edy and Ramona wheeled around in time to see the same female soldier that had saved Lynn the previous night standing behind her.

"You are Edy Nelson, yes?" asked the woman, who had an unlit cigarette in her mouth.

Ramona stepped in front of Edy and pointed her rifle at the cloaked stranger. "Who's asking?!"

"That's going a bit far Ramona, don't you think?" asked Edy.

"Is that any way to greet a fellow soldier of Gallia?" sighed the woman. "You wouldn't want me to respond in kind...would you?"

Ramona and Edy watched as the woman gripped the handle of the sword that was sheathed on her right side.

"Hey, d-don't try anything funny!" demanded Ramona. "We're the one's with guns here."

"..." The woman remained silent but did not release her grip on the weapon.

"Marina, you got her in your sights?" whispered Edy through her radio.

"Affirmative," replied the sniper, who had a clear shot on the stranger's head through her scope.

By now the rest of the Detachment had arrived at Edy and Ramona's position and had surrounded the woman.

"Hands in the air, now!" ordered Edy as she and the others trained their weapons on the woman.

"Looks like I'll have to do this the hard way..." muttered the woman as she began to raise her hands. However, hidden in her left hand was a small cannister and when she threw it on the ground, a large amount of smoke began to billow out of it, causing Edy's group to lose sight of her.

"Where'd she go?!" coughed Ramona as she tried to wave the smoke away from her.

"I don't see her..." answered Marina. The sniper scanned the area but could not spot the intruder.

Edy began to look around but was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind. In an instant she felt the cold metal of a very large sword pressed against her throat.

"You know, I should kill you now and save myself the trouble," said Edy's captor.

"Let her go!" shouted Ramona as she watched the woman pull out a large over sized handgun and point at the group.

"Please don't hurt Edy, Miss," begged Homer. "What did she do to you?!"

"So you are her," said the woman as she suddenly released Edy. "It seems that dark-hair I found earlier wasn't lying."

As Edy ran to Homer, the rest of the group watched as the woman put away her weapons and lit the cigarette that was in her mouth.

"Uh...What just happened?" asked Elysse. "Why are we fighting her anyway? Isn't she one us?"

"Ask the beauty queen," said the woman as she gestured toward Ramona. "She's the one who started it..."

The group turned to Ramona, who instantly blushed with embarrassment. "Well uh..."

Ignoring the exchange, Edy was more curious about the previous statement from the woman. "What...'dark-hair' were you talking about."

The woman shrugged. "Don't remember her name. She was shot up pretty bad when I found her. I fixed her up and dropped her off in a camp somewhere earlier."

_So it was this woman who saved Lynn? Is she really an enemy?_

"So why'd you do it?" Asked Ted, his rifle still pointed at the woman.

"Pardon?" asked the woman as she exhaled a small puff of smoke.

"Only Darcsen haters call them dark-hairs..." said Edy as she brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes. "So why?"

"She had information about you, Edy Nelson..." The woman raised her head and stared at Edy. For the first time, Edy could see the rest of the woman's face, and saw a pair of dark blue eyes staring at her. Though beautiful, for some reason Edy could only sense sadness and not anger in them.

"So what do you want with her?" demanded Ramona. "You better not try anything funny, or I'll shoot you right now!"

"That's my business," answered the woman. "And Rinoa was it? You couldn't kill me even if you tried..."

"It's Ramona," growled the scout. "And you're really starting to get on my nerves."

"Well before you go about trying to kill me, I'd suggest you have your sniper friend take a look at the terrain North-Northeast of here..." replied the woman.

"Go on Marina," ordered Edy over the radio, not taking her eyes off the woman.

Although Marina believed it to be nothing more than a trick, she decided to take a look in the direction for safety's sake. What she saw was no less than thirty Imperial troopers heading straight for the supply camp.

"Well, Marina?" asked Edy. The sniper only gave a two word response.

"Oh, shit."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 -The Naggiar Campaign - Part 5 A House Divided**

"How many incoming?!" gasped Edy, not believing Marina's report after the sniper's initial reaction.

"Thirty, at the very least," replied Marina as she scanned the large group of incoming Imperials. "E.T.A. is about twenty minutes, twenty-five if we're really lucky."

Ramona glared at the cloaked woman, who seemed completely unsurprised by the report. "You **knew** about this?!"

The woman nodded and continued to smoke her cigarette as if being overrun by Imperials was no big deal to her.

"What do we do Edy?" asked Homer as he glanced nervously around at the others. "That's a lot of Imperials..."

_Why is this happening to me?!_ Edy began to think of the different options for her group, but the only two that were viable were quickly pointed out by the still-unknown woman.

"You all can either stay and fight, or retreat. That is my opinion."

"Which we didn't ask you for," grumbled Ramona. Despite her dislike for the woman, even she knew she was right.

"If we retreat, we lose the supply camp," muttered Edy as she put a hand on her forehead. "We can't let that happen."

"But if Marina is right that's at least five to one in the enemy's favor..." trailed Elysse. "Not good odds."

"More like four and a half to one," corrected the stranger as she waved a hand in the air. "Don't forget I'm here too."

Ramona snorted. "Yeah right. You're probably an Imperial in disguise, ready to kill us when our backs are turned."

"Just because **you **don't check your surroundings doesn't make this my fault Rinoa," sighed the woman as she tossed the remains of her cigarette one the ground.

"Stop calling me that!" fumed the model. "It's Ramona! .na."

"C'mon, quit arguing guys," pleaded Ted. "This isn't the time for that."

Edy nodded. "We can't afford to turn down her help right now Ramona." She didn't like the idea any more than the rest of her group, but they needed the woman's assistance if there was any hope to win the upcoming battle.

"Alright, fine," sighed Ramona. "So what's the plan then Sis?"

"I, uh..." Edy wasn't exactly a strategist; a capable leader and a noteworthy soldier yes, but actual planning was something she usually didn't have to deal with. The situation was quickly beginning to overwhelm her and it was written clearly on her face. Homer sensed this and tried to offer her some advice.

"Um, could we use the element of surprise? The place was empty when we got here so I don't think the enemy knows we're here yet."

"Hey that's right!" realized Ted as he looked around the camp. "There's some machine gun turrets set up already in a few places. I bet if we catch them with their pants down, we'll give em one hell of a punchline!"

"And then when they figure out what's going on, they shoot us or blow us up," sighed Elysse. "Real funny."

"Plus I'm sure they'll anticipate a tactic like that," added the mystery woman as she produced another cigarette. "Unless of course you give them something else to worry about."

"You got some kinda plan then?" asked Ramona sarcastically, eying the woman. "Cause if you do, fill us in."

"You know how they say the best defense is a good offense?" asked the woman as she lit her cigarette. "Well in this case the best defense actually is a good defense."

"Um, how does that help exactly?" asked Edy, scratching her head.

"This camp is situated on a cliff, so there's only one way in, or out of here," said the woman as she gestured toward the camp entrance. "That means we won't have to worry about being flanked. That being said your best bet would be to dig in behind the sandbags on either side of this camp."

Ramona gave a very loud groan indicating her displeasure over the plan. "We'll still be sitting ducks doing that. I was hoping you'd have something useful in mind..."

The woman chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, the...ducks won't be us I assure you."

__

Hidden behind the Imperial force that was bearing down on the supply base were two figures, an Imperial officer and a Gallian militia soldier.

"It seems your information was correct, Gallian," said the Imperial officer. "The militia's supply base is quite vulnerable."

"I told you so," replied the soldier. "There should only be the Edy Detachment stationed there at this time."

The officer stroked his chin. "Edy Detachment? Sounds like an ice cream store..."

The Gallian soldier chuckled at the comment. "They're a small group within my squad...And they're lead by a girl with a bit of a superiority complex. They've gotten as far as they have by sheer luck it seems. You know, I still wonder how they even survived Presentwell let alone fend off an entire Imperial company..."

"So **they** were the ones who spoiled that operation," said the officer as he grabbed his radio. "Well then, it seems there is some payback in order. No one messes with Joseph Nonnenkof and gets away with it! Report the current situation Kanazar. "

"We're near the Gallian base now Sir," responded a voice over the radio. "We're ready for your command."

"Begin."

__

The Imperial soldier known as Kanazar the Lion stood just ten yards away from the entrance of the supply base, with twenty-nine other Imperial soldiers standing behind him.

"Alright boys, you know the drill," he said to the others. "Secure the area, neutralize any enemies we encounter."

"What if they surrender?" asked a nearby soldier. "We taking prisoners?"

Kanazar thought for a moment before giving an answer. "I suppose we could. It would make our jobs easier after all. Any other questions?" When there were none he gave the order to move in.

Upon entering the base, he saw that it seemed to be devoid of any Gallians save for a single cloaked female soldier standing in front of a watchtower in the center of the base, an unlit cigarette in her mouth. Kanazar surrounded her with half the troops that were with him and pointed their guns at her.

"You're surrounded, so give up quietly now or else," he ordered. The woman responded by igniting a match and lighting her cigarette. Unamused, Kanazar walked up to the woman and pressed the barrel of his rifle against the woman's head. "This is your last warning lady."

The woman simply smiled, raised her hands above her head, and said rather loudly, "I surrender." And then, all hell broke loose.

A series of explosions suddenly went off around the various nearby watchtowers as well as the two that were at the entrance of the base. The woman immediately dropped to the ground as the Imperials scattered about as the watchtowers began to collapse around them. A moment later, gunfire erupted toward the Imperials from behind sandbags on either side of the base. Edy's group had hidden themselves under tarps to hide their presence until they had heard the woman 'surrender', which had turned out be the signal to attack.

_A trap...How foolish of me!_ thought Kanazar as he rushed behind one of the toppled watchtowers for cover. "Take cover you idiots!" he ordered to his troops as he watched as many of them had been shot down from the ambush. He attempted to fire back at one of the groups that were hiding behind the sandbags on the eastern side of the base, but with the amount of gunfire coming from whoever it was behind the machine gun turret that was placed with them, it proved nearly impossible to do so. Further adding to his problems was the cloaked woman who was now tearing through his troops with some type of foreign-looking sword that he had never seen before. Kanazar watched as the woman moved effortlessly from soldier to soldier, slashing about as she did. Anything shot at her seemed to miss, no matter how close she seemed to be to whomever was shooting at her. The Lion himself was one of the Empire's better shots, but even possessing the powerful ZM Kar 7 series rifle, he couldn't come close to hitting the lighting-fast woman as she dashed and flipped her way around the base, taking out more Imperial troops at an alarming rate. He could only watch as the woman dashed toward a group of three troopers firing at her, heedless of the bullets that would surely hit her. She struck the first one with an upward swing as she ran by him, rushed past the second one with downward strike, and blew past the third with horizontal attack. She stopped and removed the cigarette from her mouth and blew out a small amount of smoke as the soldiers fell to the ground. Somewhat puzzled by an obviously stupid move, Kanazar raised his rifle and aimed at her... Only to find the barrel of a Mags machine gun pressed against the back of his head.

"What..." Kanazar froze in place, suddenly realizing he was the only one remaining from the attack team.

"Drop it~" sang Edy as she applied a bit more pressure with her gun. Kanazar complied after letting out a frustrated grumble.

"What do we do with him?" asked Homer as he watched Kanazar put his hands over his head.

"...Let him go," said the unknown woman as she crushed the remains of her cigarette under her right boot.

"Are you crazy?" demanded Ramona as the rest of the group gathered. "This guy was about to shoot you!"

The woman shook her head. "We aren't in much of a position to take prisoners right now. Besides, when did you start caring about me?"

"I don't..." trailed Ramona, looking away.

Kanazar sighed to himself. How could he have let himself be defeated by these people? Mere children by the looks of most of them.

"Go on then Imperial," said Edy as she shouldered her weapon. "Get out of here."

Kanazar stood up and walked away toward the entrance. "This isn't over yet," he said as he left. "We'll meet again!"

"So it seems the stories about you guys isn't all talk," said the woman as Edy and the others watched the soldier run away from the base.

"Well, of course," huffed Edy. "Did you think we were just some random group of amateurs?"

"Yes," replied the woman as she sat down on a nearby crate. Upon doing so she began wiping her sword off with a cloth. "But I'm glad I was wrong."

"Hey, you know that you're um, hurt right?" asked Elysse as she pointed out the trail of blood that was running down the woman's left leg.

"Hmm?" The woman looked down and pulled up her uniform's skirt to reveal a large gash on her thigh that had been created by a close call from a bullet. "Oh, my."

"That's pretty serious," noted Ted. "Though to be honest I'm surprised that's the only injury you have. You know, with all those guys shooting at you."

The woman laughed as Homer took out the first aid kit that he carried with him. "I'm hardly invincible. I'm just used to it is all."

"Um, this is going to need stitches," said Homer as he examined the injury. "But I don't have any type of anesthesia."

"That's fine," said the woman as she continued to clean her blade.

"O-okay then," said Homer as he began to treat the injury. He wondered if the woman would hit him from the pain that would come from the task, but he received no such treatment from her, to his disappointment.

Edy watched as Homer treated the woman with with a close eye. Although she was still wary of her, it had more to do with the fact that Homer was touching another woman, even if it was for a medical purpose. After a few minutes Homer had completed his task and the woman had finished cleaning her weapon at the same time.

"Well that should do it," said Homer as he put away the medical kit. "I'm apologize that I'm not as good a real medic. But you should take it easy just in case Miss...um..."

"Eratria," said the woman as she examined her blade. "And thanks."

"So Eratria...if that's your **real** name," said Ramona. "Why **are** you here? What's the deal?"

"Her," answered Eratria, pointing at Edy with her sword.

"What does a member of the Shadow of Randgriz want with Edy?" Asked Marina. The sniper had earlier recognized the squad patch that was on the woman's uniform, and finally decided to question her about it.

"Shadow of Randgriz?" asked Ted scratching his head. "Wuzzat?"

"The military's code for members of its Special Forces," explained Marina as she glared at Eratria with her right eye. "Catherine and my father were members of it during the first war. But it was supposed to have been disbanded at the war's end..."

"It was," said Eratria as she sheathed her weapon. "But circumstances have deemed that my skills are to be used once again."

"Yeah, yeah," sighed Ramona. "So what does that have to do with Edy?"

"I can not say now," said Eratria as she stood up. "At any rate, the situation at hand has been resolved, so I'll be going now."

"Hey wait, you can't leave after saying all that stuff!" said Edy as the woman began walking toward a motorbike near the entrance.

"Yeah I can," replied Eratria as she hopped on the vehicle and started it. "See you around."

The Edy Detachment watched as the cloaked woman sped away, more confused than ever.

"She could have at least helped us clean up," sighed Elysse as she looked around the battered base.

__

Joseph Nonnenkof threw his binoculars down in disgust as Kanazar report his failure.

"You had three squads at your disposal and you couldn't kill a single one of them?!"

Kanazar hung his head down in shame. "Forgive me Sir, I failed to detect the ambush. There was also a powerful warrior woman among them; bullets could not touch her it seems..."

Nonnenkof turned to the Gallian soldier. "Do you know anything about this?"

The soldier shrugged. "Beats me, I just told you about the base. It's not my fault you have incompetent soldiers. Now if you'll excuse me I must return to my squad before I start to be missed."

As the Gallian soldier left, two more Imperial soldiers, a female sniper and a large burly shocktrooper, approached Nonnenkof and Kanazar.

"So it seems the Lion has gotten soft eh?" spoke the sniper, her green eyes fixated on Kanazar.

"Silence, Sytreet," growled Kanazar, glaring at her through his helmet.

"But my sister speaks the truth," spoke the other soldier. "If you had sent **us, **the base would have been ours already Sir."

"That's enough Ty," said Nonnenkof. "What's done is done. Besides, I hear that you two failed in your mission to raid the refugee camps."

"We were ambushed," trailed Sytreet "The Lynx" Mauser, lowering her head. "Ty and I were lucky to escape ourselves."

"Now who's the soft one?" smirked Kanazar. "I thought you two were supposed to be unbeatable."

"Watch it," growled Ty "The Immortal" Mauser as he stepped toward Kanazar. "I've no problem beating the crap out of you right here you know."

Nonnenkof angrily cleared his throat, grabbing the other three's attention. "Let us return to base for now. There's a certain group of individuals I want disposed of, and we must plan accordingly."

"Oooh some new prey for the Lynx," purred Sytreet, stroking her rifle. "I can hardly wait."

"Hmph, whatever," said Ty as the four began heading toward the Imperial main camp. "Gives me something to do I guess. Just don't get too excited my dear sister."

__

Three hours after the Edy Detachment had fended off the Imperial attack, another squad had arrived to relieve the group, allowing Edy and the others to return to Squad 7's base camp. While most of them had left to get some well deserved rest, Edy did not get that luxury- having to report to Captain Varrot for a sudden strategy meeting; a surprise to her since there wasn't supposed to be any large scale operations scheduled for Squad 7 for the following day.

Upon arriving in the command tent she saw that the other officers of the squad, sans Alicia, had already gathered along with Faldio. Captain Varrot stood behind a table with the battlefield map spread across it, a distressed look on her face.

"Nice hair..." said Rosie, noting Ramona's handiwork.

"Alright now that she's here, can you tell us what this is all about?" asked Largo. "It ain't like you to be all quiet on us."

Varrot gave a heavy sigh before responding. "The entire militia has been ordered to mount a full scale offensive against the enemy tomorrow..."

"Are you serious?!" gasped Rosie. "We're gunna get slaughtered out there! Who's the idiot that came up with that idea?"

"Do you have to ask?" sighed Edy. Everyone in the room knew that it was General Damon who had ordered Varrot to have the militia attack.

Welkin looked down at the map of the battlefield, his face still sullen from what had happened to Alicia.

"So what strategy do you have for us Captain?" asked Faldio. "It doesn't look like it's possible to break their lines at all."

"Not to mention their Valkyria," grumbled Largo. "How are we supposed to deal with her? She practically annihilated Squad 1by herself. I don't think y'all need Faldio here to tell us about how powerful she is."

Faldio went silent as he stared at the battlefield map. For some reason, it seemed to Edy that he seemed preoccupied with something else on his mind. Then again Faldio probably had a lot to deal with, being a squad leader himself, something Edy could identify with somewhat.

"The plan is to attack their primary base camp here," said Varrot as she pointed to a marker indicating an Imperial camp on the map that was situated behind a cliff. "Doing so should break their lines."

"Uh, and how are we supposed to do that?" asked Rosie as she scratched her head. "You make it sound so simple, but there's the small problem of their Valkyria. Oh and the fact there's more of them than us."

"The plan is to have Edy's group strike the center of the Imperial line, drawing the Valkyria's attention to them. This should hopefully give us enough of an opening to strike at the base."

"Wait, what?!" shouted Rosie. "That's suicide, and you know it! You're just sending those kids to their deaths and you know it!"

"The objective for Edy's group is only to occupy the Valkyria's attention long enough for the Imperial base to be effectively attacked," explained Varrot as she put a hand to her forehead. "Her group will be supported by Squad 3, so they won't be alone. To be honest, I'm not too crazy about the plan myself, but it's the only viable plan that I can come up with. If you have a better one, please share it."

Edy sighed and looked toward the ground. _Things just keep getting worse for me don't they? _

Rosie still looked furious but remained silent, her fists tightly clenched at her sides. She knew it would do her no good to continue arguing considering it wasn't the Captain's fault to begin with.

"You've been silent this whole time Lieutenant Gunther," noted Varrot. "Are you alright?"

Welkin looked up at Varrot and nodded. "Sorry Captain, I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in is all."

"...I see. Well if there are no questions, you are all dismissed." Varrot turned away from the group. While the others left the command tent, Edy approached the Captain.

"Um, I still need to give you a report from my mission at the supply base," said Edy.

Varrot shook her head. "That won't be necessary. I already know the details."

"Huh? How?" asked Edy, confused.

"Don't worry about that right now," replied Varrot. "Just concentrate on your task for tomorrow."

The Corporal gave a weak salute and replied, "Yes, Ma'am..."

Edy left the command tent with a sigh and began wondering how she was going to break the news to her group when she suddenly found herself standing in front of them.

"Huh, what are you guys doing here?" asked Edy.

Ramona shrugged. "I guess curiosity got the best of us. So...is it true? We gotta face their Valkyria tomorrow?"

Edy nodded. "That's our orders."

Ted gave a loud sigh. "There's just no rest for the weary huh? Maybe we're just doing our jobs **too **well."

"If we didn't we'd be dead by now," replied Marina, shaking her head.

"Still, I'm not all that excited about having to face her..." trailed Elysse. "I mean how do we deal with someone like that?"

Edy shook her head. "I don't know. This goes beyond anything we've done so far."

"Don't forget about Miss Eratria," added Homer. "I wonder what her deal with Edy is..."

"About that," said Marina. "Why don't we go talk to Catherine? I think she might know her from the first war..."

With no other ideas in mind, the others agreed and headed toward the medical tent where Catherine was laying down at. Upon seeing the Edy Detachment, she sat up.

"Hmm? What do I owe the pleasure of this visit for?" she asked with a smile.

"Do you know someone by the name of Eratria?" asked Marina.

"..." Catherine became silent at the mention of the name, her smile disappearing.

"Please, if you know something Miss Catherine tell us," begged Homer. "She seems to be after Edy for some reason."

"Not to mention being a total bitch," added Ramona.

"That name..." trailed Catherine. "I hoped I'd never have to hear it again."

"So you **do** know her!" said Edy. "Please, tell us who she is!"

"I served with her in the first war as a member of the special forces," explained Catherine. "She was an incredibly skilled fighter, but extremely reckless and hot-headed at the same time. Frankly she was as likely to fight us as well the Imperials."

"Sounds like she was more of a liability," mused Ramona. "How'd someone like her get to be in the special forces?"

"Gallia took what it could get back then, give the situation of the war" explained Catherine. "Much like now."

"But...why would she be interested in me?" asked Edy. "It's not like she knows me..."

"I cannot say," trailed Catherine. "That's something..." Her sentence was interrupted by the sounds of shouting voices, which seemed to belong to Welkin and Juno.

"What in blazes?" asked Catherine. "Marina, dear help me up." The younger sniper complied and helped Catherine out of her bed. Edy and the others followed the pair outside the medical tent where they discovered Welkin and Juno in a heated argument while Faldio and Largo looked on.

"You were patrolling the area where the shot came from weren't you?" said Welkin, his voice full of anger.

"Well, yes but that doesn't mean I shot her!" replied Juno, a look of disbelief on her face. "What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Then explain this," said Welkin as Faldio walked up and handed him a sniper rifle. "The bullet that was extracted from Alicia came from this type of rifle and you just so happened to have this one in your tent."

Juno's face went white as she saw the weapon. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I never had that on me!"

"Don't lie to me Juno!" shouted Welkin.

"I'm not Welkin! You have to believe me!" pleaded Juno, who looked as if she were about to cry.

Edy noticed that Faldio was now looking at the ground, a pained look on his face. _It must be hard for him to see this, as she is his friend as well..._

"Largo, detain her," said Welkin as he turned away from Juno. "I don't want to see her anymore..."

"Whoa, you sure boss?" asked Largo. "I think that's going a bit far."

"Don't make me repeat myself," answered Welkin as he began to walk away.

Catherine suddenly stumbled forward and blocked his path, with Marina quickly following her. "Have you gone completely daft Welkin?! This is Juno you're talking about!"

"Out of the way O'Hara, unless you want to join her," muttered Welkin.

Faldio suddenly stepped in between them, attempting to diffuse the situation. "Let him be Catherine. You'll only make it worse."

"..." Catherine went silent as Welkin stormed past her and as Largo led a weeping Juno away.

"She...didn't really do it did she?" asked Homer nervously.

"Of course not," said Catherine as Marina began to lead her back to the medical tent. "The Lieutenant's mind is still on Alicia. Hopefully this will all pass in due time...Otherwise I'll straighten him out myself."

Edy watched as the pair left and then turned back to Faldio who seemed to be staring off into the distance for some reason. _He sure has been in his own world lately..._

"Ugh... Now the Squad's tearing itself apart," sighed Ramona. "Can things get any worse?"

"Let's see," said Ted as began counting on his fingers. "We faced off against a whole bunch of Imperials earlier, some bloodthirsty crazy chick wants Edy for some reason, aaaand now we get to fight a Valkyria tomorrow."

"Don't forget that Welkin's totally flipped his lid," pointed out Elysse.

"Ugh maybe I shoulda stayed at the infirmary," groaned Ramona. "Cuz at this rate, we'll **all** be heading there come tomorrow."

"Or six feet under," added Ted. "Agh forget it! I'm gunna go see if Marina and Catherine need help with anything. See you guys later."

"My head hurts... I think I'm going to turn in early," said Elysse as Ted disappeared. "Catch you guys later."

"I guess I'll get our equipment ready for tomorrow," sighed Homer. "See you later Edy."

Edy nodded and watched Homer walk away. Ramona tugged on Edy's left arm to get her attention.

"Hey now Sis, don't look so glum," she said. "We aren't dead yet, right?...Haha..ha..ha...ugh."

Edy didn't respond, and instead began walking away toward the watchtower at the eastern end of the camp with an almost lethargic look to her.

"Hey, Sis?" Ramona called as Edy walked away. "Edy?..." She had never seen Edy look this bad since the Marberry battle when she carried Ramona away to safety.

"Leave me alone for a little while please..." said Edy, as she continued to walk away. "I need to think."

Ramona watched in silence as Edy climbed up the watchtower and sat down atop its platform. She angrily kicked at the ground in frustration.

"Problems?" asked an all too familiar voice from behind.

_Anyone but her..._ thought Ramona as she slowly turned around. _Please, anyone but her..._ Sure enough it was Eratria, an unlit cigarette in her mouth.

"You again? Maybe you haven't noticed but Edy doesn't need you bothering her right now."

"Oh, is that so?" asked the woman as she struck a match. "I wonder why?"

"Catherine told us about you," said Ramona as Eratria lit her cigarette. "Needless to say it wasn't at all flattering."

"Oh is that it? I thought there was a better reason, like the fact you guys are going to have to fight a Valkyria tomorrow."

Ramona glared at the woman as she took a drag of her cigarette. "How do you know about that?"

"I know a lot," replied Eratria as she exhaled a fair amount of smoke. "I thought perhaps you and I should try to get along a bit better seeing as how we will be fighting the enemy Valkyria together tomorrow."

"No way," groaned Ramona. "Now things **have** gotten worse..."

Eratria chuckled to herself. "No doubt your friend over there is struggling to cope with the scale of the events yet to come; as well as those that have come to pass."

Ramona looked over at the watchtower that Edy was sitting on and noticed that her friend had curled up along one side of the platform, crying to herself.

"Sis..."

"She's had a tough time lately," said Eratria. "She will need your help soon enough. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Ramona turned around to face Eratria again, only to find the woman had disappeared. "Ugh, dammit." Deciding to heed the woman's advice, Ramona went to the watchtower and joined Edy at the top.

"I said I wanted to be alone," sniffled Edy, her head buried in her arms.

"All the more reason to be here," said Ramona as she sat next to her friend. "So talk to me."

"I'm scared," sobbed Edy as she suddenly clutched Ramona's arm. "I...I know I'm supposed to be all leader like and say that everything's gunna be fine but...how can I? We've both seen what that Valkyria is capable of. You remember Barious right? When I think about what she did to us there, it..."

"It's hard to think about," replied Ramona as she held her friend. "But, that doesn't mean tomorrow will turn out the same way. Hell, our squad wasn't supposed to survive most of the missions we were sent on. But we just have to keep doing what we've been doing, and we'll come out on top."

"Y-yeah, you're right," said Edy as she wiped her eyes. "I've been through so much lately, it's almost driving me crazy you know?"

Ramona nodded as she looked out at the setting sun. "Well that's why I'm here, to keep your head straight. Well, when Homer's not around at least."

__

Eratria watched on from a nearby stack of boxes as the two friends continued to talk atop the watchtower. A few moments later she was joined by another person.

"Ah Eleanor, what brings you to me this time?"

Captain Varrot glared at Eratria through her glasses. "I hope you realize the great risk I've taken by trusting you."

"Yeah yeah," sighed Eratria as she continued to smoke her cigarette. "Oh and by the way the attack on the supply base earlier wasn't my fault you know...I think you've got a spy amongst you..."

"So I gathered," replied Varrot. "I will deal with that myself. You should concentrate on your task,or else you know what will happen..."

"You need not remind me," growled Eratria. "I'm not one to repeat mistakes like **someone** I know. You're partly responsible for the fate of her family anyway you know."

"...I have nothing else to say to you," said Varrot as she turned to leave.

"Whatever," Eratria watched as Captain Varrot left to return to the command tent. _Edy Nelson is ultimately my responsibility and I will see to it that she fulfills her role in the scheme of things to come. But first I must defeat the enemy Valkyria to ensure this...Hmph how ironic..._ Eratria sighed and looked up at the stars as she tossed the remains of her cigarette away. _This plan had better work or there won't be a Gallia left to defend..._


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – The Naggiar Campaign - Part 6 Down and Dirty**

Day three of the Naggiar Campaign had dawned for the two armies, and both sides knew that it would most likely be the final and decisive day. The Imperial Army made no secret of its intention to break the Gallian lines for good as the bulk of their forces had gathered toward the middle of the main battle front. On the opposite side, the majority of the Gallian forces had also focused most of their army to the middle, as per General Damon's orders. And entrenched in the front and center of Gallia's army was the Edy Detachment.

"This sucks..." sighed Ramona as she stood atop a box and looked over at the Imperial force on the other side through her binoculars. "Outnumbered, outgunned, and just about out-everythinged else."

"What else is new?" asked Ted as he began checking his rifle. "We seem to get stuck in these sort of situations a lot lately. Well, on the plus side we're never bored, right?"

Edy shook her head as she spread out a map that outlined the various units of the Gallian front line as well as projected enemy troop positions and attack routes. She sighed as noted that most of the arrows on the map pointed from the Imperial front straight to her group's position. Ramona hopped off of the box and looked at the map with Edy.

"Well if there's one positive thing to say, it's that our recon is accurate," she said. "Cuz it looks like every single Imperial out there is going to make a beeline for us."

"Hey guys," said Elysse as the pair continued to look over the map. "Uh, I think Squad 3 just showed up."

Edy and Ramona looked up to see Elysse pointing at five soldiers approaching them. One of them, a tall, muscular, black haired Lancer walked up to Edy and gave her a salute.

"Hector Calvey reporting for duty Ma'am!"

Returning his salute, Edy looked at Hector for a moment longer then at the four other soldiers near him.

"Uh you're all from Squad 3?" Asked Edy.

Hector nodded. "That's right."

"Didn't the Captain say that ALL of Squad 3 was going to assist us?" asked Ramona, arching an eyebrow at the group. "What's the deal?"

"...." Hector hesitated to respond as he looked back at his fellow 3's. After a moment he cleared his throat and delivered his explanation.

"You were told correctly. We five are all that is left of Squad 3."

"All that's....left?" asked Ted as he joined the group.

"Our squad was ambushed last night as we were preparing to relocate to this position for today's operation," explained Hector. "We don't know how the Imperials were able to get so close to our position without anyone noticing, but within minutes our entire squad was wiped out. The five of us were barely able to escape at all..."

"So I take it we will be without tank support?" asked a voice from behind the remaining members of Squad 3. Everyone turned to discover the cloaked figure of Eratria leaning against a nearby trench wall, examining a rifle in her hands.

"W-where did she come from?" asked one of the Squad 3 members.

"Uh, she has a habit of popping out from nowhere," explained Ramona as she glared at Eratria. "As well as being completely insensitive. Just ignore her..."

Hector shook his head. "It's alright. I'm afraid it's as she said; the squad commander and his tank were amongst our casualties."

"Sublime," sighed Eratria, lighting a cigarette as she approached Edy. "Well that makes our mission all the more challenging I suppose."

"If by challenging you mean impossible," replied Ted. "How are we supposed to launch an offensive without...offense?"

"Actually our mission was changed a little...Well, okay a lot. Now we have to defend the central front," replied Edy as she motioned for everyone to come look at the map. "As you can see, the enemy has massed most of its forces in order to strike at the center of the Gallian line, which is us, naturally."

"I see," said Hector as he studied the map. "The Imperials plan on breaking the Army's line in half...Then they'd simply surround the two halves and that would be the end of it."

"So what's the plan then?" asked Ramona. "The higher-ups can't possibly expect us to hold this position for long with just a handful of people..."

"Basically we have to defend the central front while the rest of the army attacks," explained Edy pointed out various areas on the map. "We have to hold out long enough for Welkin and the rest of the 7's to attack and claim this Imperial base."

"What's so special about that base?" asked Ted as he scratched his head. "Doesn't look all that important to me."

"...It's the main camp of one of the Imperial artillery squads," explained Eratria, pausing to to take a drag of her cigarette. "It seems Eleanor is planning on having Lieutenant Gunther's squad use the Empire's own artillery against them."

Ramona's face brightened a little as she began to see how the Captain's plan was to unfold. "Oh, I see now! Welkin can then not only hit them with their own mortars, but can also hit em from behind with the squad too!"

Edy nodded. "The Captain thinks that will cause enough confusion to force the Imperials to retreat and allow the army to gain the upper hand...Or something like that."

"So,uh, how are supposed to hold this area?" asked Elysse after she cleared her throat. "I mean that's...a loooot of bad guys..."

"Well the Captain has a plan for that too," explained Edy. "But, uh it's kinda hard for me to explain..."

Eratria sighed and shook her head. "Allow me then..." Without waiting for Edy to respond, the cloaked soldier pointed at the group's position on the map. "The strategy is a 3 stage defense with...tactical retreat in mind."

"Okay that doesn't make sense," smirked Ramona. "We're supposed to defend by running away?"

"No, genius," growled Eratria as she flicked some cigarette ash at the model. "Like your lancer friend pointed out, trying to hold on to a single position against such a large number of...bad guys isn't feasible or even expected; instead we're to anchor the central line by defending it from these positions."

The group watched as Eratria marked three spots on the map with a red pen; number 1 was the stretch of trench where they were currently located, number two being Squad 6's base camp which was marked to be 600 yards behind the trench, and finally the site of a ruined a bunker that was a 1000 yards behind was number 3.

"Thankfully the Imperials have made no secret as to where they will strike us, and in order to break the Gallian line, they will have to first come through this specific stretch of trench that we are currently in," said Eratria. "Our goal here will be to hold them off until Miss Nelson here deems it necessary to fall back to position two..."

"R-right. To Squad 6's base camp," said Edy recognizing Eratria's hint for her to take over the mission explanation. "We should be able to hold that position the longest since there are already defensive structures and some turrets already in place. Marina and Homer are still setting up there in case any of you were wondering."

"Ah yeah, and since the trench in front if it is so deep, the only way to get there is by climbing ladders," Ted pointed out. "So, I'm betting we can last awhile inside the camp."

"Actually if all goes well on Welkin's end, we won't even have to go to position 3," said Edy. "I'll have to decide if we need to though, naturally."

"What about their Valkyria?" asked one of the Squad 3 members nervously. "H-how are we supposed to deal with her if she shows up?"

"I will handle her," answered Eratria as she tossed away the remains of her cigarette. "You will all stay out of my way if you have any sense or desire to stay alive."

"Well, better her than me," muttered a different Squad 3 member. "But...what if you...you know, don't beat her?"

"Then you can all just run around in circles and scream bloody murder for all I care," sighed Eratria.

"Well makes you so sure you can beat her?" demanded Ramona, poking Eratria on the shoulder. "This **is **a Valkyria we're talking about, not just some run of the mill grunt."

"Because," replied Eratria as she stood up and began to walk away, "It wouldn't be the first time I've faced one."

The group watched in silence as she disappeared around a corner.

"That's, uh a good reason..." said Hector attempting to break the sudden awkward silence.

Back in Squad 6's camp Homer and Marina were hurriedly preparing the defenses for the struggle that was soon to come. Homer had been working on a machine gun turret when he noticed Marina had been digging in a spot near the edge of the camp for a good ten minutes, and decided to finally ask why.

"This is where I'll be shooting from," explained Marina as she finished digging . "Since this base already gives me a decent vantage point of the initial defensive position, I won't have to use a tower and risk getting sniped myself."

"Oh, right. Of course," mumbled Homer as he completed his task. "Well, lucky for us, we're staying here when the fighting starts."

"Lucky, huh?" said Marina as she crouched inside the hole and looked through her rifle's scope. "Aren't you worried about Edy?"

Homer kicked up a small cloud of dust before giving his response. "She's a tough girl...She'll be alright. Of course I would rather be with her for the first part of the operation, but she decided this is where I need to be so I'll carry out her orders."

Marina didn't respond as she looked through her scope at Edy's position, watching what appeared to be a fight between Eratria and one of the Squad 3 members. _Making more friends I see..._

__

Eratria was standing over a Squad 3 engineer who had dropped a box of ammunition, resulting in the contents being spilled.

"You clumsy fool!" shouted Eratria. "It's little wonder we're losing this war with idiots like you on our side!"

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," replied the engineer as she began to pick up the spilled ammo.

"Ugh clumsy and a dark-hair," scoffed the woman as she glared at the Darcsen engineer. "Can it get any worse?"

The engineer bristled at the comment and stood up and faced Eratria.

"I have a name you know," she said, looking up at the woman's concealed face. "It's Nadine!"

"Yes, and it'll look great on your tombstone if you keep this up..."

Nadine did not back down, despite being far less intimidating than the other woman. "What's with you lady? Aren't we supposed to be on the same side?"

"...Whatever," mumbled Eratria as she turned to walk away. Suddenly a series of loud explosions near the top of the trench caught their attention.

"Has it started?" asked Nadine, tightly grasping her rifle.

Eratria looked toward the sky. "Indeed. The Imperials have begun shelling the area. We need to get back to Edy ASAP, so try not to slow me down."

"Are you always this full of yourself?" asked Nadine as she followed the older woman through the trench.

"All the time," replied Eratria without a hint of sarcasm. Nadine didn't know whether the response was serious or not but decided not to ask as the pair continued to sprint through the trench toward Edy's position. As they continued through the trench, orders for the Gallian forces started to come through on their radio, indicating that the beginning of Naggiar's final battle had finally begun.

"Eratria, where the heck are you and that engineer?" fumed Edy over the radio amid the sounds of gunfire and artillery shelling. "We need you guys now!" Her question was almost instantly answered; not by a vocal response, but rather the distinct smell of cigarette smoke. As usual, the odd Darcsen-hater had appeared out of nowhere, with the engineer in tow. _How does she DO that?_

"Here they come!" shouted Ted as he fired at a large group of Imperials who had begun descending down the sloping ramp thirty yards away that led into the trench.

As Edy prepared to fire at the approaching enemy, she heard the distinct _crack_ of a sniper rifle from a good distance behind her position, and a second later saw one of the Imperial troops fall backwards, as he was the unlucky recipient of the bullet.

""You go Marina~" cheered Ted over the radio, only to be rewarded with the Sniper's response of "...Shut up."

Ramona glanced over at Ted as he let out a dejected sigh and let out a sigh of her own. _He sure picked the toughest girl from the Squad...poor guy_. A quick burst of enemy gunfire quickly returned her attention back to the battle as she ducked behind the line of sandbags the she and Edy were using for cover. _Whoa, get your head in the game girl; I don't wanna repeat what happened at Marberry.._

As she and Edy ducked for cover, Ramona glanced behind her position and noticed Eratria crouched behind some boxes, saying something into her radio. A few seconds later a massive barrage of artillery fire hammered the area near the trench entrance, causing the entire trench to tremor as well as forcing the Imperials who were lucky enough not to be blown away to temporarily retreat.

"Did you just do that Eratria?" asked Ramona as Nadine used the brief pause in battle to start distributing additional supplies to the group.

Eratria sighed and tossed aside an empty cigarette pack before giving an answer. "Obviously not, as I have no explosives on me."

"You **know** what I mean, smart-ass," fumed Ramona as she took some ammo clips from Nadine.

"I...might have authorization to call in artillery strikes," replied Eratria as she took a cigarette out of a fresh pack. "Hey, hurry up with that ammo, dark-hair!"

Nadine shot the woman an icy glare as she intentionally slowed down. "I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me that Miss!"

"And **I **would appreciate it if you got me some fucking ammo already!" Eratria shot back as she put the cigarette in her mouth.

Edy had heard enough. She angrily stormed toward Eratria and quickly removed the cigarette from her mouth as she was lighting it. "That's enough Eratria," she shouted as she looked up at the somewhat surprised face of the older woman...what she could see of it anyway. "I don't know what makes you think you think you can talk to her like that just because she's Darcsen, but I'll be damned if I let you do it any longer while I'm in charge here!"

Eratria stared at Edy for a moment before snatching her cigarette back. "As you wish," she muttered as Nadine hesitantly walked up and gave the woman some rifle clips. Eratria quickly snatched them and motioned for the engineer to leave, which she gladly did.

The awkward silence that followed did not last long as more Imperials appeared at the trench ramp, guns blazing. As Eratria and the others returned fire, she could not help but wonder why the enemy attack was fairly light considering all the radio transmissions confirmed that the main part of the Imperial force was bearing down on their position. As she watched another Imperial get picked off by another of Marina's impressive shots, she saw several Imperial lancers suddenly appear at the top edge of the trench, their launchers aimed directly at Edy and Ramona's position. After shouting a quick warning at the pair, Eratria took quick aim at one of the lancers, drilling him in the head with a well placed shot. As he fell into the trench, Edy and Ramona quickly moved away from the sandbags they were hiding behind, and not a moment too soon, as half a dozen lancer rounds hammered the area. The resulting explosions sent Edy reeling back toward Eratria as Ramona slid in behind the sandbags on the other side of the trench where Ted, Hector and the other Squad 3 members were using for cover.

"Are you alright Sis?" asked a concerned Ramona as she watched Eratria grab a slightly stunned Edy and guide her behind the boxes she was shooting behind.

"Yeah..."groaned Edy as she quickly shook her head to regain her bearings. Looking back to the trench ramp she watched as more Imperial soldiers rushed in, thus making an already bad situation even worse.

"Elysse, can you and Hector get some rocket fire on those guys?" asked Edy as she and Eratria attempted to apply some kind of suppressing fire on the incoming soldiers.

"Rodgerrrrr," answered the female Lancer. Wasting no time, she and Hector each fired a round in the middle of the soldiers sending the ones near the blast flying. It didn't slow down the remaining troopers much however, forcing the two lancers to quickly duck back for cover.

"Yo, this ain't working too well Edy," Ted yelled as he fired at the rapidly advancing Imperials.

After lobbing a grenade, Edy turned to Eratria to see that she was was once again speaking into her radio.

"...am requesting an artillery strike in zone H, coordinates one-four-zero-point-eight-five."

"_Ma'am that's practically right on top of your position!_" replied a voice on Eratria's radio.

"I'm aware," snapped Eratria as she tossed the remains of yet another cigarette away. "So don't miss."

Upon hearing the exchange Edy gave Eratria a look of absolute disbelief. "Eratria did you just call down a strike on top of us?"

"Yes," said Eratria with a smile as she lit another cigarette. "Hang on to something."

"Brace yourselves everyone!" shouted Edy as she and the rest of the group braced for the impending blasts. Looking up for a moment she saw that Eratria was still standing, taking a drag from her cigarette as the Imperials charged ever closer as if she was completely oblivious to the danger that she herself had put the group in.

And then came the deafening blasts of artillery fire. To Edy it felt like the whole trench was about to collapse on top of her as the ground shook violently, over and over. What was only seconds felt like an eternity to her but when the bombing finally ended she found herself completely covered in dirt. As she stood up she saw she was not the only one either.

"Ugh my uniform's all dirty!" fumed Ramona as she shook the dirt off herself. "What the heck Eratria? You **do** know that could have killed us? Are you completely insane?!"

Eratria, who hadn't bothered to shake the dirt off her uniform, simply looked at Ramona and tilted her head, remaining silent as she held her cigarette that somehow remained intact.

"...Right," sighed Ted as he looked around the trench to see that Eratria's close call was not without merit as there was no sign of any Imperials in or near the trench.

"Hey Edy, are you guys alright?" asked Homer over the radio. "That last mortar strike looked awfully close..."

"Yeah we're all okay," answered his girlfriend. "Eratria's either really good with calling those in or just really lucky..."

"Sorry to interrupt, but there are more enemies bearing down on your position," said Marina over the radio in her usual stoic voice.

"Tell me something I don't know," sighed Edy as reloaded her weapon. "How many?"

"A lot," replied Marina as she looked through her scope at the approaching Imperials. "Also, these soldiers are all wearing some kind of black armor and they're being led by someone in really heavy looking armor and a gun that...Well, I've never seen anything like it to be honest."

Upon hearing this Eratria let out an audible gasp and let the cigarette that was in her left hand fall to the ground.

"What is it Eratria?" asked Hector as he and the rest of his squad mates looked at her with concern. "Something we should know about?"

"Edy, you need everyone to fall back right now," she told the group leader in an extremely concerned tone that bordered on fearful. "I'm dead serious."

"Wait, why?" demanded Ramona as she took more ammunition from Nadine. "It's been barely half an hour since the fighting started!"

"Those black armored troopers are part of an elite squad led by a man called Ty the Immortal," explained Eratria as she looked away from the group. "They're specialized in urban and trench combat and they **will** wipe us out if we stay in this position."

"Hey I remember Welkin and Alicia talking about some Imperial with that name," said Ted as he wiped some dirt off his face. "I think they said something about him being the one who took both Vasel and Fouzen; both in a single day."

"It's true," said Eratria as she picked up the dropped cigarette.

"Well it's just a name right?" asked Elysse as she fidgeted with her launcher. "He's not really immortal...right?"

"...We need to retreat back to the second position **now** Edy," was Eratria's only response.

After a moment of thinking Edy decided it was best to heed the older woman's advice. "Alright, everyone start heading back to the camp; Eratria and I will stay back to buy you guys some time."

"Let me stay with you too Sis," said Ramona as the others began to fall back deeper into the trench.

Edy shook her head as Eratria put in a fresh clip into her rifle. "I need you to be with the others," she told her friend. "If something happens to me, you'll need to lead them; got it?"

"Don't say things like that," sighed Ramona putting a hand to her forehead. "But...alright. Just be careful, you got that?" Turning around, looked back to Edy for a moment before running back through the trench to follow the others.

As she ran off, Edy's radio suddenly came to life as several panicked transmissions came in.

"_The enemy Valkyria has been sighted! I repeat, the enemy Valkyria has been sighted on the eastern front! She's already wiped out Squad 6! Squads 2 and 4 are currently engaging her!_"

"...She's heading here you know," said Eratria as she pressed herself against the left trench corner, breathing heavily. "Things may become....complicated soon."

Edy knelt down next to her and looked toward the ramp through her Mags sight. "As if they're not already...I just hope Welkin and the others take that base soon..."

"Edy, those troopers are almost in range," reported Marina over the radio.

"We'll be at the base in a few minutes," added Ramona. "Hang in there, okay Edy?"

As Edy continued to wait for the Imperials to appear, Eratria suddenly let out a loud curse into her radio. "That idiot Damon! He's redirected all the artillery toward the western front! I can't call in any more strikes."

"That's totally **not** where their Valkyria is!" groaned Edy. "What is he thinking?"

"The regular army is positioned there," explained Eratria as she also looked through her weapon's sight at the ramp. "I assume he's completely failing to fight back the Imperials there, as usual. You know, I wish he'd just do everyone a favor and go die in a giant explosion or something..."

Edy chuckled slightly at the woman's unexpected, or, more likely, unintended joke but only for a moment as suddenly the group of the black armored Imperial troopers that Marina had warned about appeared at the top of the trench ramp. Unlike the previous waves of attackers, these soliders seemed to be marching in a three soldier-wide formation and were advancing with an oddly slower pace as well.

"Enemy is in range," reported Marina. "Taking a shot."

Edy heard the telltale **pop** of marina's rifle and watched in disbelief as the shot deflected off of the helmet of Marina's target.

"!" Marina let out a surprised gasp over the radio as she witnessed the results.

"I told you, these guys aren't your average Imp soldier," growled Eratria as she began firing from her standing position behind the trench corner. "The soldiers in this unit aren't wearing the paper armor the usual grunt is issued. Also, the GSR your friend uses is meant for accuracy, not stopping power."

Further reinforcing Eratria's claim was the fact that none of the bullets that either Edy or Eratria fired seemed to have any effect on these new soldiers beyond slightly slowing their pace.

"Uh...this isn't working," said a very nervous Edy as she reloaded her weapon. "What do we do?"

"We fall back," answered Eratria as she paused to knock the ash off her cigarette. "Run to those boxes on the other side; I'll cover you. On three."

Edy nodded and crouched down. She closed her eyes and began breathing deeply as Eratria began counting. If there was any doubt left in Edy's mind about trusting Eratria, this was the time to erase them.

"Three!" Gathering every bit of her courage, Edy stood up and bolted for the other side. As she ran Eratria emptied her rifle's clip at the advancing Imperials. It was enough to throw off their aim as their shots fell just behind Edy as she slid feet first behind the boxes. After a quick self-check to make sure she was still alive, she looked back at Eratria, who had switched out her rifle for her two handguns.

_Oh, I guess I have to give her some covering fire too_, thought Edy as she got back to her feet. But before she could do or say anything else Eratria suddenly bolted from her position and ran towards Edy, firing both weapons at the Imperial soldiers as she did so. About two-thirds of the way through she suddenly dropped to her knees and slid on her armored kneepads the rest of the way as she emptied the rest of her clips, ejecting them as she reached Edy.

"Let's go," said Eratria as she got back to her feet and began reloading her weapons. "The others should be at the second position by now."

"O-okay," replied Edy. Just then, however, a large shadow appeared from above and an instant later a large Imperial trooper landed the ground near the pair. As he stood up, Edy saw that he was equipped in the same thick black armor and helmet that the other Imperial Elites wore. The weapon he held in his hand looked like one of those big Gatling-gun type machine guns she had seen used as the Shamrock's main gun on a few of the squad's missions.

"Oh, God," whispered Eratria as she holstered both of her handguns and drew her sword. "It's him...Ty the Immortal."

As the trooper turned and faced the pair, the rest of the Imperial Elites quickly fell in place behind him.

"Going somewhere?" laughed Ty as he pointed his weapon at the two Gallians. As he examined them, it seemed almost insulting that all he had to face were two females, one of them still just a girl. "This is the best Gallia has to offer?"

Eratria quickly moved a visibly shaking Edy behind her with her right hand, and as she did so, removed a small cannister from her belt.

"We gunna kill em now, Sir?" one of the troopers asked.

As Ty was about to answer, he looked at Eratria a second time and then her sword. "Wait...That sword...It's **you**! I don't believe it! How many times do I have to **kill** you?!"

"Until you get it right," answered Eratria through her clenched teeth. "Which is a concept you still fail to grasp it seems."

"Stinking half-breed!" shouted Ty as he pointed his weapon at Eratria's head. "I'll make sure to finish the job this time!" Before he could fire it, however Eratria tossed the canister at him and immediately turned around and grabbed Edy by the wrist and began to run. The cannister suddenly burst into a bright, white, flare-like explosion that blinded the Imperials.

"After them you idiots!" shouted Ty as his vision slowly returned. "I want that woman **dead**!"

"I take it you two have some kind of history?," asked Edy as she followed Eratria through the trench.

"...No," replied Eratria, not wanting to explain herself.

"Well, for someone you don't know, you sure seemed pretty scared of him," Edy shot back.

"So says the girl who nearly wet herself upon seeing him," countered Eratria as she rounded a corner.

Before Edy could think of a comeback, Welkin's voice suddenly came over the radio.

"_Edy what's your status_?"

"Welkin, we've lost the first trench and are heading for the second position," Edy reported as she continued to follow Eratria. "What about you guys?"

"_We're about to begin the attack on the targeted Imperial camp. Try to hang in there alright?_"

"Will do," replied Edy in her best cheerful-I'm-not-worried tone. _Sure, hang in there Edy while the whole of the Empire is bearing down on you and a bunch of bulletproof Imps are chasing you. Oh yeah don't forget about their Valkyria! Try not to get vaporized 'kay?_

What a splendid start to the day.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – The Naggiar Campaign – Part 7 Nowhere to Run**

There were a lot of things Edy Nelson would rather be doing in the hot afternoon sun, and none of them involved running for her life through a trench in the middle of the largest battlefield that just so happened to be the biggest battle in Gallia's history. Yet here she was, doing that very thing while following a person she barely knew, someone who seemed to have taken an interest in her for goodness knows why. Still, all things considered, things could be worse.

_I could be dead, Ramona and Homer could be dead, everyone could be dead...Gotta keep positive..._ Edy kept repeating the same thoughts over and over as she did her best to follow Eratria, who had been keeping up a rather quick pace for the past eight minutes. As she struggled to keep up, Edy thought it odd that someone who smokes as much as Eratria did could run so fast for so long. _Then again what **isn't** odd about her?_ A sudden halt by Eratria caught Edy by surprise as she crashed into her and fell backwards onto the ground. Edy grimaced and rubbed the top her head as Eratria turned to face her.

"Why'd you stop?" asked Edy as Eratria helped her back to her feet.

"Because you're tired," replied Eratria. "And don't worry, those Imperials aren't going to catch us just yet with all that heavy armor they're wearing."

"I...I'm not tired!" argued Edy as she was bent over and gasping for air.

"Your acting skills aren't **that** bad are they?" sighed Eratria as she retrieved a fresh cigarette. "Take a rest already. A good soldier knows not to overdo it."

Edy remained silent but obliged as she leaned against the nearby trench wall and grabbed her canteen. Now that she wasn't worrying about staying alive for the first time since the battle began, her brain was finally able to register the fact she was thirsty, and badly so. She quickly drank nearly half the contents and soon discovered this to be a massive error. Her stomach couldn't take the shock of so much cold water at once and she immediately doubled over and threw up.

_Ugh, great,_ she thought as she stumbled over to the other side of the trench when it was over and slid to the ground. She looked at her legs and saw that they were covered in sweat and dirt. _I don't even wanna think about what my face looks like, and my hair....It'll take a week of washing to get it all clean. Well I'll have Ramona help with that; she's the one who had me wear it down like this for the battle anyway._

Realizing that Eratria hadn't said anything after her canteen mishap, Edy looked over to her to see that the woman was checking over her handguns, a lit cigarette in her mouth as usual. As Edy watched her, she started thinking about who, or more precisely, **what** Eratria was. Being a Darcsen-hater wasn't all that strange, but the degree at which she took it was; even Rosie never took it as far as Eratria did, which was saying a lot.

And then there was the whole mysterious deal with the way she looked... She might be dressed in the standard Scout female uniform, but she wasn't equipped like one. Other than her arm and knee armor, she wore no other type of armor protection that Edy could see. Her handguns weren't the standard issue sidearms that most of the militia soldiers received, and her sword sure as heck wasn't something any soldier she knew had. Even her rifle looked like a custom job; it appeared to be based off of the basic Gallian series but she noticed that it had a reinforced barrel and the stock itself was made of a completely different type of wood. Plus those weird smoke bombs and light grenade thingies; definitely not standard issue.

And then the fact that she hid her face with that cloak. No, not just her face, her hair too... _What does it all mean? Wait, could it be? Was she a...Valkyrur?_

Edy's eyes widened as she started to piece everything together. It all made sense to her now! Of course she would be a Darcsen-hater if she was a Valkyria; everyone knows that all Valkyria hate Darcsens, right? Her lithe body type and size was also similar to the Empire's Valkyria, other than a much smaller chest... And she **did** say that she had fought another Valkyria before; what else could beat a Valkyria except another one?

"Hey!" snapped Eratria as she beaned Edy in the head with an empty rifle clip.

"Huh?" Edy's attention was abruptly returned as she saw Eratria looking down at her.

"I said you've been staring at me for the past minute and a half," said the woman. "You're not going loopy on me are you?"

"N-no," mumbled Edy as she looked away. _Not as loopy as you anyway..._ "I was just thinking about something is all."

"That's nice," said Eratria as she blew a cloud of smoke into the air. "Get up, it's time to go."

Edy glared at the woman for a moment but decided to stay quiet for the time being. As she returned to her feet, Ramona's voice came in over the radio.

"_Edy, where are you_?"

"Still in the trenches," answered Edy as she began to follow Eratria once again. "Shouldn't be too long before we get to you guys."

"_Well that's good, but what are we gunna do about those armored guys_?" asked Ramona.

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet..." admitted Edy as she rounded a corner...and ran straight into Eratria's back once more.

"Again?" sighed the woman as she looked at Edy.

"Can't you at least say something before you do that?!" fumed Edy as she stood back up.

"Pay attention next time," said Eratria. "At any rate, your friend's question is a valid one; what will you do about them?"

"I...I don't know!" answered Edy, throwing her hands in the air. "Am I supposed to come up with an answer for everything?!"

"...Aren't you supposed to be the leader?" asked Eratria as she tossed away her cigarette. "I believe that's part of the job. Are you completely inept at leadership? Or perhaps you slept your way to your current position..."

"What?!" Edy was nearing the breaking point with the woman but suddenly a thought came to her. _Calm down, she's only going to feed off of anything I'd yell at her... If I really want to get back at her, prove her wrong..._

"Well?" asked Eratria as her lips formed a smirk.

"...Explosives," Edy suddenly said.

"What?"

"If our bullets aren't working against them, what about things like grenades and lancer rounds?"

Eratria's smirk disappeared and a genuine smile replaced it. "There you go; looks like there's hope for you yet."

"Ramona, have Homer and Nadine pass out some extra grenades," Edy ordered over the radio. "If we can't shoot them, we can at least try to blow them up."

"_Sure thing Sis,_" answered Ramona.

"Don't neglect the usefulness of the turrets," reminded Eratria. "They use the same anti personnel rounds that our tanks use. Those troopers' armor may be strong but they can't handle high caliber rounds like that."

"_And you would know this how?_" asked Ramona.

"Trust me," answered Eratria as she grabbed her cigarette pack.

"_Yeah, sure,_" scoffed Ramona. "_I'll put that on my list of things to do."_

"I give up," sighed Eratria as she took out a cigarette. "I don't know how-"

Her sentence was interrupted by a sudden burst of gunfire that came uncomfortably close to the pair. A small group of the Imperial elites was discovered to be the source of the gunfire.

"Whoa, argue later guys," said Edy over the radio. "We gotta **go**."

As the two ran off one of the elites grabbed his radio.

"Targets found Sir; it looks like they're heading towards that base sitting on that nearby hill."

"_It seems like there's more to those insects than I thought,_" answered Ty. "_No doubt because of __**her**__. No matter, I want everyone to hit that base hard; don't stop the attack until it's ours!"_

Just like Edy, there were a lot of things Ramona Linton would rather be doing in the hot afternoon sun, and none of them involved sweating like a porcavian while running around a dirty and dusty militia camp, all while giving out various orders at the same time. Playing the leader wasn't hard for Ramona, nor was it really a bad thing for her; it was her constant worry for Edy that was the biggest concern for her. Ramona wasn't the least bit comfortable leaving her Sis alone with...her. Eratria... Just the name alone was enough to piss Ramona off, let alone the fact the woman made every effort to irritate her whenever possible. But Edy was safe for the moment so she had to remain satisfied for the time being.

As she watched Homer and Nadine run around with literally armfuls of grenades, she wondered just how effective they really would be against these new enemies. She had never heard of armor that could repel bullets before, so who's to say grenades and such would work? The more she thought about the situation the less she was liking it. About the only good news was that there were no more waves of soldiers beyond the elites that were approaching - according to Marina anyway.

"Miss Ramona, we've given out all the remaining grenades."

"Huh?" Ramona looked to her left to see that Homer was poking her.

"You were spacing out," replied Homer.

"R-right, sorry about that," mumbled Ramona. "Uh, good job with the grenades."

"Um, are you okay?" asked Homer as he looked at Ramona's pale face. "You don't look so good..."

Now that Homer mentioned it, Ramona did feel a bit faint. "I think the sun is starting to get to me, Homer," she told him. "I'll be okay though, don't worry."

Homer wasn't totally convinced but decided to let her be. He went back to Nadine to discuss how much spare ammunition was left.

As he left Ramona began to feel increasingly dizzy and she decided to sit on the ground to try to clear her head. Generally the only time she ever felt like this was when she spent an evening drinking herself silly in one of Randgriz' higher end establishments. Even then the side effects were gone by end of the following morning. _Come on, pull it together girl!_ She told herself as she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. After about a minute the dizzying sensation went away and Ramona returned to her feet.

"_Ramona, we're coming up to the base,_" Edy's voice sounded extremely panicked and the rest of her message explained why. "_Those Imperials are right behind us, so we need some kind of covering fire or we'll never make it up the ladders!"_

"Okay Sis," answered Ramona as she hurried over to Marina. "I need you to help me cover them Marina."

Marina gave her a confused look. "But...I won't do much good against them."

"We're all in the same boat," countered Ramona. "Even if we just slow em down, it'll be enough."

After a moment Marina nodded and grabbed her rifle. "...Okay."

" Elysse and Hector, you come too," said Ramona as she turned to the pair. "Let's see how well those guys can handle lancer rounds."

"You can count on me," answered Hector as he grabbed and loaded his launcher.

Elysse nodded and followed suit.

"H-hey what about meeee," asked Ted as the they ran towards the edge of the base. "Geez it was bad enough when only Marina ignored me."

"Almost there....Almost there...Almost...there..."

Edy kept repeating the same two words as she continued to run as fast as she could through the long stretch of trench that led toward her destination. Every step brought her one step closer to it but also brought her closer what could quite possibly be her death. Getting to the base was going to be the easy part. The problem was that the base itself was situated on a two-story hill. That in itself wouldn't have been a big problem except that there was another huge stretch of trench that ran horizontally against it. This meant that she and Eratria would have a long ladder climb in order to get inside the base and potentially become proverbial sitting ducks while doing so. As she continued to run she was able to make out a a couple of figures at the edge of the base.

"It seems your friend came through," noted Eratria as she followed Edy. "How nice."

"Well of course she did! What were you expecting?"

Eratria snorted before giving a response. "Don't ask."

Edy gritted her teeth but continued to run. She didn't care if this woman was or wasn't a Valkyrur, she was at the point where she didn't want to be anywhere near her anymore.

"_Sis hurry,_" said Ramona as the two arrived at the ladders. "_I can see the enemy, so just keep moving; we'll do what we can to keep them back._"

Edy and Eratria had no choice but to trust her and thus began the dangerous climb.

Marina watched through her scope as more of the Imperial elites began appearing in the far side of the trench. With no known weak spot on these enemies she tried shooting various body parts in an attempt to hinder their progress. Another head shot yielded nothing a deflected shot. A perfect hit dead center in the chest of another was met with the same results. Even shots that landed on the extremities were largely ineffective. Marina let out a frustrated sigh as she reloaded her weapon. She had never faced an enemy quite like this before and it was beginning to fluster her. Still, so long as Edy and Eratria made it up the ladders her task would be successful. After all 'it doesn't matter how many enemies you defeat in a day, so long as the mission is completed', as her father put it. As she aimed once again at the group she noticed the larger soldier she had seen earlier suddenly appear out of the group, his large weapon put away on his back.

"...Ramona, that soldier..."

Ramona lowered her rifle and picked up her binoculars. _Is he that Ty the Immortal guy that Era-... __**she**__ was talking about? _Ramona narrowed her eyes as she watched the soldier begin to bark out orders to his men. _I gotta do something fast or Edy and...that woman won't be climbing very far!_

"Elysse, Hector; think can you hit that big soldier back there?"

Elysse scratched her head. "Um...Which one's the big one?"

"Yeah, they all look big to me," added Hector.

Ramona resisted the urge to facepalm as she pointed out the specific soldier.

"Uh, I'll try," answered Elysse, kneeling as she raised her launcher. "That's a pretty long way you know."

"True enough," agreed Hector as he also knelt down to aim. "Still I'll give it a shot."

As the two prepared to fire, Ramona risked a glance a down from the edge of the hill. As she looked down she saw that Edy and Eratria were only a third of the way up on their respective ladders. _Ugh come on Sis pick up the pace_, she thought as she crawled back to the others.

"Come on... hiiit," cried Elysse as she fired. Unfortunately, her words alone weren't enough to guide her rocket to the intended target as the shot never even came close to hitting the trench, let alone any of the Imperials.

Hector's shot on the other hand was far more accurate but his shot hit a group of elites that were heading for the ladders.

Ramona risked another glance to examine the results and saw that only one of the soldiers had recovered from the blast.

"Hey it worked!" Ramona gave a little fist pump as there was finally something positive happening. "Keep it up guys!"

Bolstered by the results, Elysse and Hector quickly reloaded their launchers and fired a second salvo. This time both rounds hit inside the trench, taking out a sizable number of the troopers.

"Hell yeah, we got this!" cheered Ramona as she stood up. "Yeah! Take that Imperials! We ain't scared of you now!"

Marina remained silent as she continued to watch the battle through her scope, taking the occasional fruitless shot. She did not share Ramona's enthusiasm, partly because it wasn't her thing and partly because she saw that even though Elysse and Hector had been successfully taking out the Imperials, there were some that made it through and were getting very close to the ladders. Looking back to what she assumed to be the leader of the Imperial attack group she noticed he had turned around and appeared to be doing something near the back of the formation within the trench. A moment later she found out what it was; he had reappeared with an Imperial Anti-tank lance in each hand. Marina couldn't help but marvel at how much strength the man must have, considering that Largo was the only person she knew that could carry a launcher with one hand and even then he needed both hands to fire it. But something was off... He wasn't aiming upward at the group as logic would dictate, rather far lower. Suddenly Marina realized why. He was aiming at Edy and Eratria!

"Edy look out!" shouted Marina over the radio as the soldier fired the twin launchers, in what was quite possibly the loudest anyone had ever heard her speak.

Looking back and seeing the rockets coming at her, Edy completely froze in place. Eratria, however, was quick to react and jumped off her ladder and towards Edy. She had enough momentum to grab Edy and get the two airborne as well. It wasn't nearly enough to get the two far enough away from the rockets unfortunately and although the rockets missed the pair, they did explode on the trench wall where Edy's ladder was. The explosions were close enough to send the two crashing into the opposite trench wall as well as collapsing part of the trench itself. Eratria took the full force of both the blast and collision with the trench wall, while also cushioning Edy from the collision.

"Ugh..." Edy slowly stirred and rose to her knees. Her ears were ringing and her head felt like it was going to split open. She had a close call with a grenade once but that didn't compare one bit to what just happened.

_I'm still in one piece somehow_, she thought as her head began to clear up. _The trench collapsed; We won't be able to go back that way. Speaking of which, what happened to Eratria..._ Edy turned and found that Eratria was crumpled against the wall and still unconscious. In addition she noticed that the woman's cloak had been torn off in the aftermath of the blast. Crawling to her, Edy turned Eratria over on her back to check for injuries. Edy gasped as she noted the woman's now revealed long hair. Instead of the Valkyrian silvery-white colored hair she had expected to see, it was the unmistakably Darcsen blue-black hair that she was looking at. _This woman's a Darcsen?! No, no, no; this is all wrong! This doesn't make any sense..._ Edy's thoughts continued to race through her head as she tried to take in this new revelation. _Argh, why did she have to be a Darcsen? __**Anything**__ else would have made sense! __**Anything**__!_ But then Edy recalled the fact that Eratria never said a last name for herself, and Darcsens have no last names usually. And then the one time she saw her eyes during their first encounter yesterday...They were the dark blue that were common amongst Darcsens. Somehow everything about Eratria made sense and at the same time made no sense at all.

Ramona's panicked voice came in over the radio. "_Sis are you alright? I can't see you! Answer me, please!"_

"Yeah, I'm okay," answered Edy as she began checking Eratria. "Eratria's been knocked out, but there's something you should know..."

"_What's that?"_

"Eratria's-"

A sudden noise from the debris from the collapsed trench interrupted her sentence. Looking up, she watched as an Imperial elite emerged from the debris.

"Damn, why'd he go and do that when I was right under those two girls," the elite grumbled as he stood up. "My damn gun's under all that crap now too...Huh?!"

Edy quickly grabbed for her Mags but realized it wasn't on her. Looking around she saw it was lying several yards away. Edy knew she only had two choices at this point- run and leave Eratria to her fate, or stay and fight. As much as she couldn't stand the older woman, Edy wasn't so cold-hearted as to abandon her. Besides, Eratria had a **lot** of explaining to do. Acting quickly, Edy scampered over to her weapon and pointed it at the Imperial, who, in turn, simply laughed at her.

"Well, well. What's this?" The Imperial stared at Edy through his helmet. "Looks like I might not be so unlucky after all! Once I kill you and that woman, I'll get promoted for sure!"

"S-stay back!" shouted Edy as she pointed her weapon at the soldier. The elite responded by slowly and deliberately pulling out a large combat knife.

"You really think that's going to do anything, little girl?" The Imperial laughed as he slowly advanced toward Edy. "I'm going to have some fun with you!"

Edy wasn't sure what kind of 'fun' he had in mind but she wasn't about to find out. Edy quickly emptied her Mags clip and watched as the bullets simply bounced off of the soldier's armor. She ejected the clip but her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped the fresh clip she had to replace it. And then before she knew it the Imperial was right in front of her. Using the only option she had left she activated her Flame Flail, aiming straight at the soldier's helmet.

"Woah! Hot hot hot!" The Imperial backed up a few steps and quickly tore off his helmet. Looking back at Edy his expression was nothing short of livid. "That's it! You asked for it!"

Edy ejected the empty FF cannister but before she could reload another one the soldier charged directly into her, causing her to fall backwards as well as losing her weapon. As Edy got back to her feet she was suddenly grabbed by the soldier and was thrown hard into the adjacent trench wall.

"Too easy!" The Imperial could hardly believe the ease in which he was roughing up this little Gallian mouse. He waited until she got to her feet before hitting her stomach as hard as he could. He watched as she fell to her knees from the pain before smashing his right fist into the left side of her face, causing her to sprawl backwards onto the ground.

There was never a time in Edy's life where she had felt so much pain at once; not even the horrible events of Marberry and the injuries she received when she rescued Ramona compared to what she was feeling now. She was no amateur when it came to melee fighting but this man was on a completely different level than her. As she slowly got back to her knees she could only watch as the Imperial shoved her back down to the ground and pinned her down with his left foot. Her eyes widened as she saw him raise his combat knife. Using every bit of her strength she was able to stop the killing blow mid-strike by pushing back on the man's wrists. It was only temporary though, as his strength outmatched hers and the knife was slowly pushed towards Edy's neck. Soon Edy could feel the sharp point of the knife pressing against the skin of her neck.

_I'm...I'm going to die right here!_ Edy couldn't hold back her tears as she struggled to keep the blade from ending her life. _Homer...Everyone...I'm so sorry....I'm-_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – The Naggiar Campaign – part 8 The Ultimate Price**

_Homer...Everyone...I'm so sorry...I'm-_

Another moment and it would all be over for Edy Nelson's career. There would be no applause, no encore for her final performance. There wasn't even an audience to witness her final act, which to her was the worst possible fate of all.

The knife point was pressing painfully hard against her neck now; it would not take much of an effort to send it plunging into her and ending her life. Edy's thoughts were racing through her head rapidly as she desperately tried to stay alive. _The Empire took my family, my home, my whole life away from me and now...now I'm going to die by one of them...No...**NO! I won't let it happen!**_

"?" The Imperial elite, who just a moment ago was overpowering this little girl, suddenly felt the knife being pushed away from his victim. Looking at the bruised face of the girl, he saw that a look of anger and determination had replaced the fearful expression that she had just a moment ago. And then, unbelievably, the girl managed force the knife away from her and knock him off her.

Edy could feel a strange sensation coursing through her body; almost like an overwhelming sense of power. The blinding pain she had felt just moments ago was gone and now the only thing she felt was an intense combined feeling of anger and strength. Her thoughts suddenly became focused on one thing: killing this monster in front of her. Although she still had her sidearm, Edy only saw her combat knife as a logical choice. Maybe it was her current state of mind that made her think that but she didn't care at the moment. Holding the blade in her right hand felt so...right to her at the moment. And before she knew what was happening she found herself lunging at the Imperial. Striking and slashing at the man she felt like she was fighting and reacting more on instinct than skill.

_What the hell is going on with this damn girl_, wondered the Imperial as he quickly found himself defending against the girl's knife blows, some of which were coming uncomfortably close to his face. Whenever he knocked her away, she just bounced back to her feet and continued attacking. Even hitting her with his full strength no longer had any effect beyond further enraging her.

As the fight drew on Edy was now literally seeing red, the overpowering sensation felt like a raging fire flowing in her blood. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to explode at any moment, and yet it didn't bother her. She didn't care how many times she was thrown or knocked back or struck, there was no way she was going to relent. _I have to win! I won't...let this bastard kill me!_ She charged at the Imperial yet again, but instead of attacking him, she heaved a Flame Flail fuel cannister at his head. The move was a bit surprising to him, but he easily knocked it away.

Edy disappeared from his vision for only a second when he did so but that was all she needed. The moment after he knocked the cannister away from his face, he saw Edy's petite figure in midair right in front of him, her knife held in both hands and raised over her head. The Imperial could do little more than look into the face that contained all the fury that was Edy Nelson as she brought the knife down.

Edy put all her pain, anger and determination into the attack and drove the knife completely into the man's neck. Uttering a final cry of pain and disbelief, the Imperial fell backwards onto the ground, his final thoughts on how was it possible to lose to such an insignificant Gallian, and a female at that.

Now that the man was dead, the sensation that had taken over Edy's body was quickly dissipating; the fire that had been raging inside her was no longer burning. As her mind returned to its normal state, she suddenly felt very weak and felt herself begin to fall backwards. However, instead of hitting the ground as she expected, she found herself in the arms of Eratria.

"Wha-?" Edy looked up at the older woman's face, which had a moderate trail of blood running down the right side of her face from hitting the trench earlier.

"Easy there," said Eratria as she looked down at Edy. "Take a few deep breaths. Let your head clear."

Edy took the woman's advice and slowly breathed in and out a few times. After a few seconds Edy stood back up and looked questioningly at Eratria.

"Um, when did you wake up?"

"Right as that man was about to send you to your death," replied Eratria as she wiped some of the blood off her face with her left hand, leaving a red smear on the right side of her face. "I was going to intervene but....well let's just say you took care of things before I did."

"I don't know how I did it myself," admitted Edy as she fumbled around for her ragnaid bottle. "When I thought I was gunna die, I sorta just lost it and the next thing I know...I kill the guy."

"...I see," said Eratria as she retrieved her cigarette pack. "Well, the human body can do some pretty amazing things, especially when facing certain death."

"Well, I'd rather not face death again anytime soon considering how bad my face feels right now," sighed Edy as she activated the ragnaid device. She watched as the ragnite crystal within the device glowed and reacted with whatever liquid was inside. She didn't know what ragnaid really was or how it even worked to be honest; all that science-y stuff confused her and all things considered she didn't care right now.

Edy recalled the two most common ways to use ragnaid depending on the need; apply the medicine on the skin for specific injuries, or drink it outright for a quicker and more evenly distributed effect. She knew that some people also injected the medicine into themselves for an even faster effect but there was no way in hell she was going to stick herself with a syringe needle. Edy wasn't a fan of directly consuming the stuff either, as it tasted like sewage water to her. Shutting her eyes tight she quickly drank the contents, nearly gagging as she did so.

Eratria watched with some amusement as Edy forced herself to consume the medicine. It was a bit unbelievable to her that a girl like this who could barely choke down ragnaid was able to take down an elite Imperial soldier alone. _Perhaps there is more to her than I thought,_ she thought as she lit her cigarette.

"_Edy, are you there?" _Ramona's voice sounded even more panicked than it did before. "_You got cut off; what happened?"_

"Yeah, I was....delayed, sorry," answered Edy as she felt the effects of the ragnaid start to take hold of her.

"_Are you okay? Eratria didn't try to do anything funny did she?"_

"Um, no..."

"_So what were you saying about her?"_

Eratria looked up at Edy and tilted her head in confusion, causing a few strands of her hair to fall in front of her eyes. She let out a quick gasp and quickly looked away from Edy at the sudden realization that her cloak was gone and that her heritage was now known to the younger female.

"I think it'll be easier for you guys to see for yourselves," replied Edy as she looked at Eratria, guaranteeing that the woman would have to explain herself later on. "How is everyone holding out?"

"_So far so good. The rockets that guy fired at you blew away the ladders you guys were using, so they won't be getting here that way."_

"Neither will we apparently," said Eratria, still facing away from Edy. "There's no way to get out of this trench from here."

"Well maybe-"

_Bakoom!_ A loud explosion on the base's hillside interrupted Edy. Looking up, she saw that a large crater had been blasted into the hill.

"What was that?" asked Edy as she looked around. "I know **that **wasn't a lancer round!"

"_Sis, there's a huge freaking tank parked behind the trench that the Imperials are in! That thing'll blast a new entrance into the base with the size of the cannon it has!"_

"Typical of the Empire," sighed Eratria. "If they can't get around something, they'll go through it."

"_What are we gunna do Sis?" _asked Ramona. "_We can't even fire at the Imps now with that tank sitting there..."_

The problems seemed to keep piling up for Edy as she thought hard about what to do next. She knew it was an absolute must to hold the base as long as possible, and in order to do that the tank needed to be taken out. Which meant...

"Eratria, doesn't this trench loop back to where those Imperials are now?"

The older woman glanced back at Edy and thought for a moment. "Yes it does, but why would you want to..." Eratria looked at Edy as if she had grown a second head as she realized what Edy wanted to do. "No, absolutely not. Whatever you're thinking, forget it."

"It's the only way," countered Edy as she retrieved her Mags that was lying near the dead Imperial. "If that tank isn't taken care of, Ramona and the rest of my team are toast! You might not care about them but that's too bad for you!"

"Courage and foolhardiness are two different things," snapped Eratria as she narrowed her eyes at Edy. "You're talking about trying to sneak past multiple Imperial elite squads, climbing up a trench wall and **then** taking out a tank-destroyer class tank! Without an anti-tank launcher mind you. Oh, and then getting away to top it all off."

"I'll find a way," said Edy as she stared back into Eratria's dark blue eyes. "With or without you."

Eratria responded by drawing one of her handguns and pointing it at Edy. "This isn't a game little girl. This is war. If at first you don't succeed, you fail and everyone dies. Including you."

Edy walked up and let the barrel of the gun touch her forehead. "I will **NOT** lose Ramona again! If you're going to shoot me, then do it. Otherwise help me or stay out of my way!"

"...For your sake I hope she's worth it," answered Eratria as she holstered her weapon. "Lead the way. We'll see how well your courage holds out. Oh and I won't shoot you, don't worry. Eleanor wouldn't be too happy with me if I did."

"Ramona, we're going to try to take out that tank so just hang in there," said Edy over the radio as she retrieved her knife from the dead Imperial.

"_What? Are you sure Sis?"_

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. You just make sure the Imperials don't get inside the base,"

"_Sure thing; don't do anything stupid you got that?"_

"Too late," smirked Eratria.

"...You know, I always thought Darcsens were generally nice people," sighed Edy.

"I am **not** a dark-hair," fumed Eratria, as she tied her long, obviously Darcsen hair back with a green ribbon. "I'm...complicated. At any rate survival first, explanations later."

"I'm holding you to that," answered Edy as she began to run through the trench.

Eratria paused long enough to retrieve the FF cannister that Edy had thrown at the Imperial. _One never knows..._ she thought as she ran to catch up to Edy.

_Bakoom!_ Another tank shell blast hit the side of the base's hill, causing the ground beneath Ramona and the others to tremor violently. Ramona had everyone to fall back towards the middle of the base after the first blast, and now had no choice but to wait for either Edy and Eratria to take out the tank, or for the Imperials to start appearing, whichever happened first. And from the looks of things it seemed like the latter was going to be happening really soon.

A third tank blast struck the hill, this time collapsing the upper part of the hill edge.

"H-hey this isn't looking too good you know?" Ted nervously looked across the base at the hill edge. "You sure we should try to hold this base?

"...Please shut up Ted," sighed Marina. "The last position is even less defendable than this base. Besides, we're not leaving Edy behind."

"I wouldn't mind leaving that woman behind though," muttered Ramona as she looked over at Hector who was preparing one of the turrets with Homer. Still, she had to admit that Ted wasn't completely off-base with his concern. The Imperial elites they had taken out earlier wasn't even close to enough to putting a dent in their numbers and to top it off they were running out of lancer rounds.

_Bakoom!_ The next tank blast sent Nadine staggering to her knees as she was trying finish preparing the second turret with a fellow Squad 3 member. Returning to her feet, she was secretly glad that Eratria wasn't with them; it meant that she wouldn't be screamed at for falling down.

Personally she wasn't comfortable about the fact that Ramona was taking charge in Edy's absence. It made no sense to her that Edy gave Ramona command after the initial retreat; after all, she was just some model for a magazine that Nadine used to read prior to the war. Hector on the other hand seemed to be a more logical choice to her, since he was a town watch captain for the past couple of years. Perhaps even more puzzling to her was that it was Edy Nelson herself who was in charge of the actual mission. Considering some of the unflattering things she had heard about Edy, the way the military worked just made no sense to her... On the other hand Edy wasn't doing a horrible job so perhaps it was best not to believe everything she had heard. As another tank shell hammered the the hillside she wondered just what exactly Edy and Eratria were doing that was more important than trying to get back to the base.

Massively frustrated was the easiest way to describe Edy's current temperament. After running through a long stretch of trench to get to the base, she now found herself running **back** to where she had come from. Halfway to her goal she found herself wondering what the hell was she thinking trying to take out a tank. She didn't even have any training in that sort of thing but she wasn't about to admit that to Eratria. _I just hope I don't run into any of those Imperials on the way. One was bad enough... But... why didn't they come this way?_

As she and Eratria took a sharp left turn in the trench she suddenly found out the reason for that. Blocking their way were two large stacks of crates with rows of barbed wire wrapped around them.

"Um... Was this always here?" asked Edy as she looked at the unexpected obstacle.

"No, I set up all this here myself prior to the arrival of Squad 3," answered Eratria. "It was intended to force the Imperials into attacking from where they are currently at."

"Well now **we** can't around it either," groaned Edy. "What are we going to do now?"

Eratria offered no advice, rather she simply leaned against the trench wall and with a smug look she stared at Edy as she slowly and intentionally took a drag from her cigarette.

"Fine!" shouted Edy. "I don't need your help anyway!" She turned back to the crates and began to climb up, carefully trying to avoid the barbed wire. Turning back to Eratria after climbing up a crate she flashed her right middle finger and uttered a single word at her.

"Bitch."

Eratria simply smiled back at her and watched as Edy continued to climb up the crates. _Eleanor was correct_. _It would seem that this girl thinks and performs better when she's riled up like this. I suppose it would make sense considering she has a more of an on-the-fly style of doing things._ Eratria watched as Edy continued to work her way atop the next crate and listened as Edy let out a frustrated curse after getting her left leg tangled in the barbed wire.

"Careful that's sharp!" shouted Eratria as she looked amusingly at Edy.

"Shut...Up!" growled Edy as she freed herself, cutting her leg slightly as she did. Resisting the urge to hurl something at Eratria, Edy made her way atop the final crate. She had planned to hop off the crates one by one and continue on her current course but upon seeing things from her new perspective she came up with another idea. The crates were high enough to allow her to jump across and out of the trench. Grabbing her binoculars, she looked over at the tank that was sitting behind the trench that was on the other side. To her relief and surprise, she saw no other Imperial units near it.

"I take it you see something you like?"

Edy wheeled around to see that somehow Eratria had made it up the crates next to her without making a sound.

"I can see the tank over there, but there's no one defending it," Edy finally said. "Is it a trap?"

"How very typical of Ty," replied Eratria as she peered over at the tank sans binoculars. "He always focuses on a single and swift attack with no afterthought on the possibility of losing. Some things never change..."

"I thought you said you didn't know him," recalled Edy in a sarcastic tone.

"Not important at this time," countered Eratria as she looked back at Edy. "You've gotten this far, so how will you take out the tank?"

"Um, I think I can overheat the radiator with my Flame Flail?" replied Edy. "I remember awhile ago Isara and Kreis were talking about how in theory a fire could damage a tank's radiator so..."

"More like Flame Fail,"" sighed Eratria. "As I thought, you had no clue what you were doing." Before Edy could come up with a retort the older woman tossed Edy a square taped-up item.

"What's this?" asked Edy as she looked over it. _She's being awfully helpful considering she tried to talk me out of doing this..._

"It's a timed explosive charge," answered Eratria. "Remove the pin in the middle to activate it. Get back and after ten seconds watch the fireworks."

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you had planned for things to go like this," said Edy as she prepared to jump across the trench. "I just don't get you."

"That's an understatement," agreed Eratria as she readied her rifle and knelt down on the crate she was standing on. "I'll cover you for what it's worth but don't get careless out there. When the charge goes off you need to get your butt back here as fast as you can."

Edy nodded and jumped off the crate and out of the trench. Luckily, all the constant shelling and explosions created many small craters in the area. Considering she needed to not be seen as she made her way over to the tank she decided use them to her advantage.

_This is crazy, this is crazy, this crazy! _It was only 200 yards to her target but it seemed like 200 miles from where her position was. As Edy ran from crater to crater she expected the tank's machine gunners to spot her at any moment. That of course would be very disagreeable to her since she needed to not be shot full of holes in order to succeed with her task.

"_Keep going Edy,_" said Eratria from her position. "_Those gunners are all focused on the base. They won't know what hit them._"

With only 75 yards separating Edy from the tank she saw that Eratria was correct; the tank commander could be seen standing halfway out of the main hatch, binoculars in hand and shouting orders to his tank crew. He was focused entirely on his target, and had he looked behind himself he would have seen Edy sneaking towards his tank's radiator, bomb in hand.

Edy came so close to the radiator that heat coming from it was nearly burning her face. _Okay, I just pull the pin here and..._ Upon doing so she began to hear a ticking sound. After setting the device atop the radiator she began running away as fast as she could. After five seconds had passed the device detonated and caused the radiator to overload, resulting in the entire tank exploding from the inside.

After a large piece of shrapnel from the tank nearly missed cutting her head off, Edy angrily shouted into her radio. "What the hell Eratria, that thing went off almost as soon as I pulled the pin!"

"_The girl with the wool cap who made it told me it was a ten second fuse_," answered Eratria. "_Don't blame me_."

"You didn't tell me Wendy made it!" fumed Edy as she began running back. "Good grief... Ramona are you there?"

"_I'm a bit busy Sis, the Imperials made it into the base!"_

Not the response Edy wanted to hear. After going through all the trouble of dealing with the tank, the Imperials still made it in. "Well, we took out the tank so that's taken care of. We're on our way back now."

"_You'd better hurry or we might not be here for much longer_," warned Ramona. "_I'm not sure how long we can hold out."_

"If you feel you need everyone to fall back to the final position you have them do it," ordered Edy as she ran back towards the trench. "I don't care if I'm back or not."

"_No way," _Ramona protested. _"I'm not going to leave you to die out here!"_

"Damn it Ramona don't argue with me!"

"_Forget it Edy, I'm not falling back until you get here. Don't even think about it!"_

Edy knew it was pointless to argue any further. She didn't really expect Ramona to retreat without her. She knew that if their places had been switched she wouldn't leave Ramona either.

Approaching the crates within the trench, Edy prepared jump onto them but was halted by Eratria who had jumped out to meet her.

"What's up?" asked Edy.

"No need to run into the trench," explained Eratria. "We can run around to the entrance from out here."

Seeing that there were no Imperial reinforcements for the time being and that the route would be faster Edy agreed.

Hiding in the shadows of a nearby pile of boulders, Sytreet the Lynx watched through her rifle's scope as Edy and Eratria ran off.

_Pity that Nonnenkof wants the silver haired one for himself, _she thought as she watched Edy run out of sight. _It would have been so easy to send a bullet into that girl's skull. As for that Darcsen, isn't that...? _Sytreet's crimson lips formed a thin smile upon recognizing the woman._ Oh my, it is! Best to let Ty handle her, though. Oh well, I can always hunt one of the Gallians that are fighting Ty._ Sytreet refocused her aim toward the base that Ramona and the others were defending, her left emerald eye peering through her scope in search of a target._ Hopefully my brother hasn't wiped them all out by now; he always hogs all the fun... _

Listening to her radio she was somewhat surprised to hear that the Gallians were actually pushing back the Imperials on the western front. That could possibly be trouble for the Imperial forces except for the fact that another transmission had come in reporting that General Bles had crushed most of the Gallians opposing her on the eastern front and was now making her way towards Ty's forces. _I feel sorry for those poor fools_, mused the Lynx as she brushed some of her bright red hair away from her face. _Now then, which of those Gallians will taste my bullet today?_

Now that the Imperials had breached the base, Ramona and the others had become hard pressed to maintain what little ground they had. Because the tank was able to blast a significantly large section into the hillside before it was taken out by Edy, the Imperials were employing the use of ladders of their own to gain access. Although the Gallians were keeping the enemy at bay, with every Imperial taken down, it seemed like five more took their place.

_Come on Edy, hurry up!_ As Ramona lobbed a grenade at a cluster of Imperial elites hiding behind some sandbags, she began to wonder if she really would have to fall back without Edy. She dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came to her. Of course she wouldn't leave Edy. But standing her ground was becoming extremely difficult now that more and more Imperial elites were climbing into the base. Looking over to her right she watched as Elysse sent a lancer round straight into an elite soldier who had just climbed one of the ladders into the base, sending him flying in the air back into the trench.

"Come onnnnn Homer, reload faster," urged Elysse as she waited impatiently for Homer to put another lancer round into her launcher.

"I'm trying Miss Elysse," answered Homer as he completed the task. "Okay, done."

The instant he finished his sentence Elysse immediately re-aimed and sent another round in the middle of another group of Imperials. Elysse cheered at the results and once again urged Homer to quickly reload her launcher.

"You're...acting kind of strange?" noted Homer as he began the reloading process. "You're not usually so fired up."

"I'm like, in the zooooone Homer," replied Elysse, cracking her knuckles. "Or...whatever it's called? It feels pretty cool at least!"

"Um, that's good?" Homer gave Elysse a thumbs up, indicating he was finished reloading.

Elysse wasted no time firing the fresh round.

On the opposite side of those two, Marina and Ted were making full use of the abundance of grenades, lobbing one after another. Truthfully, it was actually Ted that was doing all of the throwing. Marina had been reduced to the task of simply handing the grenades to Ted from the crates near the pair, while periodically pointing out where to throw them. Marina didn't have any particular issues with this; after all she was just a sniper and as such didn't receive any training as far as grenade usage goes, hence why she nor any of the other snipers ever carried any. That, and to quote an age old cliché, she threw like a little girl.

As she watched Ted, she was mildly surprised by the effort the normally easygoing scout was putting into the battle. Half expecting him to start hitting on her or to begin cracking one of his jokes, it never happened as he remained focused on his task.

"Boom! Look at em fly Rina!" laughed Ted as he witnessed a particularly successful grenade throw that resulted in a pair of Imperials getting blown back off of the edge of collapsed hill of the base. "Man I love playing to a full house!"

"Um, nice job..." said Marina quietly as she handed him another grenade. Normally she wouldn't let him get away with calling her Rina, but truth be told it didn't bother her as much anymore as she thought it would. Besides, as long as it kept him focused on his task and not worrying about the battle itself she would let it slide for the time being.

A loud shout from within the Imperial troopers suddenly grabbed Ramona's attention. She watched as the large trooper that she and Marina believed to be Ty the Immortal appeared and shoved several of his soldiers aside.

_Holy crap, he's bigger than Largo_, thought Ramona as she was finally able to see him from a closer vantage point. _He's gotta be, like, seven or eight feet tall!_

"Enough playing around with these whelps!" he shouted as he raised his massive weapon, pointing it at the pair of Squad 3 members that were manning the turret on the right side of the base. "Say goodbye!"

Before Ramona could shout any kind of warning, the turret gunners were immediately shot up by Ty's powerful weapon.

"Holy-!" gasped Ramona as she ducked behind the sandbags.

Upon seeing his fellow squad mates fall, Hector gave an angry shout and rushed up next to Ramona, firing a lancer round at the Imperial leader as he did so. His shot was dead on but Ty simply batted it away with his left forearm, causing the the round to fly harmlessly away into the sky.

"What...?" Hector couldn't believe what he just saw. A lancer round had enough propulsion to punch through tank armor; any ordinary man who tried to do what Ty just did would simply wind up with a broken arm. _Just how strong is that armor of his_? he wondered. He didn't have long to think about it because Ty responded by aiming his weapon straight at him. Ramona quickly jerked Hector to the ground just as Ty opened fire, the bullets just missing him.

"Careful there big guy," said Ramona as she listened to the bullets fly overhead. "I don't think the swiss cheese look suits you."

"Me neither," sighed Hector as he reloaded his launcher. "Thanks."

Marina watched from behind her sandbags as Ty continued to spray bullets at Ramona and Hector's position. _His armor may be unbreakable but the weapon..._ She took note that Ty's weapon featured a large drum magazine to feed it ammunition. If she could somehow damage the magazine it could be possible to disable the weapon, but that presented a dilemma in itself.

She knew her rifle was now doubly useless as not only could it not penetrate the armor of these Imperials, but now she was far too close to even use it as it wasn't calibrated for short range use. Which meant the only option left was...

"...Ted, let me see your rifle."

"Wha?" Ted gave her a confused look as she had never, ever before asked him for...anything, really.

"Rifle. Now. Please," replied Marina with her usual serious tone. Not wanting to upset her, Ted obliged.

Using a Gallian series rifle was not unfamiliar territory for Marina, as it was the first rifle her father had given her. Once again she closed her eyes and recalled the key lessons her father had taught her for it.

_Remember this has less recoil than my GSR, so don't grip it so tightly. You can fire up to five times in a row without worrying about a visible accuracy drop so long as you don't squeeze the trigger too hard. A half a second between shots is all you need to wait for._

Opening her eyes, Marina took aim at the specific part of Ty's weapon as he continued to keep Ramona and Hector pinned down with a blistering barrage of bullets. Hoping to herself that Ted's weapon was even halfway accurate, she opened fire. Amazingly to her, all five rounds hit their target, the fifth shot causing Ty's weapon's magazine to break off.

"What the?" Ty looked down at his weapon as it suddenly stopped firing. Upon further inspection he saw that due to the way the magazine was damaged he couldn't remove the remaining piece out of the weapon and therefore could not reload it.

"Well that's a heck of a show stopper Rina," cheered Ted as he gave her a thumbs up.

Marina gave a satisfied 'hmph' and handed Ted's rifle back to him. "Not that your comments make me happy or anything," she added, though she was actually happy. On the inside of course.

Throwing his weapon down in disgust, Ty immediately produced two ZM MP machine guns that were strapped to his back and began firing them both at Marina and Ted's position as more of his troopers climbed into the base.

With so many Imperials having reached the base, Ramona knew that she and the others could no longer hold their current position without risking serious casualties. "Everyone fall back to the rear of the base!" she shouted. "Hurry!"

Hector fired another round at Ty but this time aimed at the ground in front of the Imperial. The round exploded as planned and caused enough of a distraction to allow him and Ramona safely run towards the back of the base. Ted and Marina also used the opportunity to retreat as did Elysse and Homer.

Upon reaching the sandbags at the rear of the base Hector noticed that Nadine and the other remaining Squad 3 member were still manning the other turret in the middle of the base.

"What the hell are you two doing?" he shouted. "Fall back!"

"Huh?" Nadine and her squad mate never heard Ramona's orders and suddenly realized they were isolated in a very bad position. Before either of them could do anything, Ty charged at the two with a large fireaxe in his hands, his previous weapons also discarded. Nadine's squad mate desperately fired the turret at the Imperial leader while Nadine used her rifle , hoping it would take him down as it had many of the other elite troops. However, Ty the Immortal's armor was strong enough to repel even turret rounds and in the blink of an eye he was upon the two and swiftly buried the axe straight into the skull of the turret gunner, right in front of a horrified Nadine.

The Darcsen engineer stumbled backwards and fell on her backside as Ty freed his axe from his victim and looked straight down at her, his helmet wet with blood. He raised his weapon in the air and brought it down toward Nadine, heedless of the shots being fired at him by the other Gallians.

Nadine managed to roll out of the way a split second before the axe smashed into the ground. Her heart stopped for a second as she saw the axe blade had struck the ground mere inches from her head. As she attempted to crawl away, Ty grabbed her left ankle and began dragging her back toward his troopers.

"**Help me**!" she screamed as she desperately tried to free herself from Ty's iron grip as she was being dragged backwards. As a Darcsen she knew that the Imperials would show her no mercy.

Ty had only dragged Nadine a few yards when he looked up just in time to see a lancer round flying straight at him. With no time to react, the round struck Ty square in his helmet, sending him to the ground and allowing Nadine to scurry toward Hector and the others.

"Yaaaay!" shouted Elysse as she stood and cheered, being the one who fired the round.

"Wow you really are on a roll Miss Elysse!" said Homer as he prepared reload Elysse's launcher.

"You know it Homerrrrr," replied a still standing Elysse. Looking back at Ty who was still on the ground, she shouted, "Nyah, nyah, not so tough now are you, dumb Imper-"

Homer heard a high pitched _zip_ sound as Elysse's sentence was cut short. He watched as Elysse suddenly fell backward and hit the ground.

"M-miss Elysse?" Homer shook the young lancer but received no response.

"Homer, what happened?" asked Ramona as she looked over at him. "Did she fall over or something?"

"I-I don't know," replied Homer as he turned Elysse on her back. He immediately had a bad feeling upon seeing the blank look on her face, along with the small trail a blood that had come out of the corner of her mouth. Looking at her uniform he saw a large red stain in the middle of her chest.

"She's....gone..." trailed Homer at the realization of Elysse's fate.

The members of the Edy Detachment all looked at Homer at the same time upon hearing him.

"What do you mean?..." asked Ramona not wanting to hear the answer.

"She's dead," answered Homer as he tried to hold back his tears. "I think a sniper took her out..."

"Impossible!" gasped Marina as she quickly attempted to scan the Imperial side of the battlefield with her rifle's scope. "We're on an elevated position with those Imperial units blocking any viable line of sight. The skill required to make a shot like that is...well it's beyond even mine!"

Hector looked at Ramona who was still trying to take in what had just happened. "We can't stay here anymore! If the Imperials have someone like that on their side we're all going to meet the same fate!"

Ramona was inclined to agree but there was one thing that was stopping her from ordering everyone to retreat to the final position.

"But...Edy isn't here yet."

"Forget her!" shouted Nadine. "Because of her we've stayed here longer than we should have and now most of my squad is dead and one of yours is as well!"

"That's..." Ramona was at a loss now. Four Gallians had just died trying to hold the base but just because Edy wasn't there didn't mean things would have been different.

"You should consider it," offered Marina as she looked at the ground. "I don't like the idea any more than you do but this is certain death if we try to stay here any longer. I'm sure Edy will understand and figure out what to do wherever she is."

"I....agree," trailed Homer as he closed Elysse's eyes. "It won't do Edy any good if we're all dead."

_Damn it! If we leave now, Edy is going to have an almost impossible time trying to get to the final position; she and that woman will most certainly be intercepted by the Imperials. But if we stay...We'll all die, even I can't deny that. W-what do I do?_

"Alright everyone," said Ramona as she closed her eyes. "I've made my decision."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – The Naggiar Campaign Part 9 Run Run Run!**

"_Edy can you hear me?"_

Ramona's voice was shaky over the radio, clearly a bad sign to Edy as she and Eratria were making their way back to the second position.

"Yes, I can hear you Ramona," she answered. "How are you guys holding out?"

"..." The long pause did nothing to ease Edy's bad feeling.

"_Not very well,"_ Ramona finally replied. "_We're overrun by those super-armored troopers and that big guy."_

"Ty..." muttered Eratria as she followed Edy.

"We should be able to join you guys in a few minutes," said Edy. "Can you hold on for that long?"

"_...No," _the answer was somewhat surprising to Edy; she had planned for them to be able to hold out for much longer than this. "_Most of the guys from the other squad are already dead and..."_

"...and?" asked Edy.

"_I have to fall back now Sis," _Ramona's voice was quivering over the radio. "_It's that bad here_."

"Well, that's not good," said Eratria as she and Edy stopped at the news. "Hardly unexpected considering they are dealing with Ty though..."

"So what now?" asked Edy. "We're stuck where we are now!"

"Deal with it," replied Eratria with a shrug. "Plans rarely go the way we want them to."

"Deal with it?" asked Edy as she shook her head. "We're sandwiched between Ramona and the bad guys! There's no reasonable way to get to the bunker at the final position without getting shot to pieces..."

Eratria remained silent as she pulled out a map of the battlefield. "We can get there in time but we'd have run straight there from where we are now."

"**That's** your idea?" fumed Edy. "Why don't we just wear shoot me signs on our backs while we're at it?"

"If you have any other suggestions I'd like to hear them," said Eratria with a slight smirk.

"I...um," Edy tried to come up with a response but there wasn't any kind of feasible plan in her head that would work.

"As I thought~," Eratria chirped. "I sure hope you are a quick runner."

...

"Let's go! To the bunker at the last position everyone!"

Ramona's nerves were nearly shot as she ordered the surviving members to abandon their current position. Like Edy, she knew that doing this would leave her best friend in a most precarious position, but there was no other solution. Staying would have also meant that Elysse most likely wouldn't be the only one of her squad-mates that would meet an untimely end to whoever the sniper was that was out there.

Taking one last look behind her as she ran behind the others, Ramona saw that the Imperials had halted their advance, regrouping for what they believed would be a decisive attack that would undoubtedly rout Ramona and the others...had they chosen to stay.

_Please make it to us Edy..._

...

Five minutes after Ramona and the rest of the Detachment had retreated, Ty the Immortal found himself standing where they had been, thoroughly disgusted at the weak resistance that had been presented to him so far.

"Looks like they ran off Sir," said one of his troopers as Ty knelt down to look at Elysse's dead body.

_Sytreet's victim_, he thought as he noted the bullet hole in her chest. _Thorough as always._ "Where did they go?"

"Our scouts have spotted the remainder of the group heading toward that bunker," said the trooper pointing at the distance. "Once we take that position they have nowhere else to go."

"Finally," said Ty as he stood back up. "Time to put an end to this fight...and to _her._" Picking up his binoculars he focused in on the bunker that Ramona and the others had dug into. Taking that position seemed simple enough to him; the second rate weaponry the Gallians possessed wasn't strong enough to break his unit's armor, and they could only throw so many grenades and fire so many rockets at his men.

His thoughts were interrupted when the trooper next to him called his attention to an area a few hundred yards to the left of the bunker.

"Hmm?" Looking at where the trooper had indicated he noticed a very familiar looking silver-haired girl followed by a Darcsen woman that looked all-too familiar to him.

"It's her..." he grumbled. "All units attack that bunker! Don't stop the attack until it's taken!"

_..._

_Gotta keep running...Keep running Edy!_ Every part of Edy's body was hurting, and her legs felt like they were lead weights but she knew she couldn't stop until she reached the bunker and Ramona. Eratria was silently running behind her, keeping pace with Edy.

As the two continued toward the bunker, Edy wondered how the others would react upon seeing that Eratria was a Darcsen, the very opposite of what she had lead everyone to believe.

That thought didn't last long as a pair of Imperial lancer rounds screamed over the pair's heads.

"Looks like they're on to us," said Eratria as the rounds exploded a few yards away from the pair.

"Thanks for the info!" groaned Edy as the two continued to run toward the bunker. A moment later Ramona's voice came over the radio.

"_Sis are you insane?"_

"Not now Ramona, I'm busy," gasped Edy as another Imperial round flew past her.

"_Yeah you're busy trying to get yourself killed! Have you even looked behind you guys to see what's after you?"_

"Nope and I'm not gunna start now!" said Edy as she continued to run. "And no, I don't want to know!"

...

Ramona watched nervously through her binoculars at Edy and what looked like a Darcsen woman running toward the bunker that she and the remainder of the Detachment had taken cover in, with the Imperial Elite troopers advancing ever so closely behind them. Bad enough that there was nowhere else to fall back to, but the bunker itself was already heavily damaged, and wouldn't stand up to too much punishment should the Imperials decide to shell it with artillery.

_Worry about that later,_ she thought. _It won't mean a thing if Sis doesn't get here..._

"Marina, is the enemy in range of your rifle?" asked Ramona.

The sniper looked at her with a confused expression. "...Yes, but the armor they wear makes any attack I make ineffective... Or did you forget?"

"I don't care!" answered Ramona, a small hint of desperation in her voice. "If it will slow them down at all then that's good enough! We need to buy Edy more time!"

Marina nodded. "...Okay."

…

"Faster, you lazy dogs!" shouted Ty as he commanded his troops' advance. _I **will** kill that woman today!_

He watched as a group of his Lancer units fired more rounds at the retreating pair of Gallians, which missed, as he expected. If it was one thing these Gallians did have plenty of, it was luck.

Suddenly a loud _ping_ rang off of one of his troopers' armor.

"Ignore their sniper," ordered Ty. "Those rounds won't do anything but scratch our armor. Sytreet, do you copy?"

"_Yes."_

"Where are you?"

"_Where I can see you."_

Ty let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you planning on hiding all day or are you going to help me out here?"

"_Sorry, but Nonnenkof has ordered me to be elsewhere for the time being._"

"What?" Ty could hardly believe this new-found information. "Why?"

"_Don't ask me,"_ replied the female sniper. "_Besides you don't really need me to finish the job do you?"_

"Bah, forget it then!" spat Ty as he returned his attention to his troops. Another _ping_ rang out off of another nearby trooper. Adding to his irritation was the fact that his quarry had nearly made it to the bunker. Moving to one of the few scouts he had in his unit he immediately took the soldier's weapon. Though it had no scope, it certainly had the range to do what he needed done...

…

"We're...almost...there..." gasped Edy as the bunker was slowly getting closer and closer with each painful step she took.

"See? I told you we could do it," said Eratria. "Nothing to it at- agh!" A sharp whistling sound followed a wet _smack_ interrupted Eratria and the older woman immediately fell to the ground.

Edy turned around and went back to the Darcsen woman, unsure of what just happened. Looking down her, Edy saw a growing red stain near the midsection of Eratria's uniform.

"...Leave me..." said the woman as Edy attempted to help her. "I'll just slow you down."

"Uh, uh, you're not getting out this that easily!" said Edy as she helped Eratria up. "You still have a **lot** of questions to answer you know!"

"..." Eratria remained silent as she let Edy put her arm around her shoulder. _Whoever it was that shot __me did so with a ZM Kar... Must have been Ty..._

"Wow you're heavier than I thought!" groaned Edy as she struggled to keep Eratria on her feet whilst moving at the same time. _Almost there...I can even see Ramona now..._

Eratria gave no response as the pair continued to make their way to the bunker.

"Hey hurry up, Sis!" shouted Ramona from within the bunker. "Those Imps aren't too far behind!"

"I'll go help her!" said Homer as he turned to exit the bunker.

Ramona nodded. "Okay, then. Just don't get yourself killed!"

"I'm not that lucky..." trailed Homer as he exited the bunker.

…

Ty cursed to himself at his failure to to land a killing shot on that accursed woman. Sure he managed to give her a nasty injury, but he knew she would survive it. She always did..

Thrusting the rifle back into the original owner's hands, he continued to urge his troops forward, intent on finally destroying the irritating Gallians and the wounded prey that was Eratria. He saw that a third soldier had now appeared and was helping the silver-haired gild bring Eratria toward the bunker. There wasn't anything he could do about it now, which was fine with him. In just a few more minutes, those three would be dead anyway.

…

After what seemed like an eternity, Edy had finally reached the bunker with Eratria. They were greeted by Homer near the rear entrance of the bunker.

"Thank goodness Edy!" he said as he helped her with getting Eratria into the bunker. "Is she okay?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Edy as she entered the bunker. "She's hurt pretty badly."

Setting the older woman down, she saw that the injury that Eratria suffered was indeed a rifle shot, the round having gone completely through her.

"Yikes, that looks serious!" said Ramona as she joined them. "Um...Not to be rude but who is this woman?"

"Take a wild guess..." groaned Eratria through gritted teeth.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ramona was clearly not expecting to hear that voice. "You're-"

"No shit," said Eratria as she pressed her hand against her injury. "...Shouldn't you be worrying about other things right now?"

"She's right," said Edy as she wiped a large amount of sweat off of her bruised face. "We gotta get ready for the enemy right now!"

Ramona looked away from Eratria as Homer began to tend to her injury. "Y-yeah, okay... Um, there's a pair of gun turrets that are ready to be used as soon as the Imps get into range. I've got Ted and that Hector guy on them."

_That's good thinking on her part,_ thought Edy as she looked around at the remaining members of both the Detachment and the other squad. "Um, where's Elysse?"

"..." Ramona looked away from her friend, not wanting to tell her the truth.

Nadine suddenly walked up to the two, clearly upset. "She's dead, along with the rest of my squad-mates!"

"What?" gasped Edy. "H-how?"

"...A sniper," said Marina in a soft tone as she was pausing to reload her weapon. "A very, very good one."

"N-no..." Edy fell to her knees. "How could this have happened...I-I..."

Ramona was quick to reassure her friend, not wanting to see her break down at such an important time. "Hey, get a hold of yourself! There's nothing you could have done if were there. I know it sounds cruel but you need to put that behind you and focus on the now!"

The sound of the two turrets within the bunker firing off along with Ramona's reassurance helped snap Edy out of her desperation.

"Yo, they're in range!" shouted Ted as he and Hector continued to fire at the incoming Imperials.

"This is it Sis," said Ramona. "We can't lose here!"

Edy nodded. _All of Gallia is counting on me right now... We have to hold these guys off somehow... But can we?_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 – The Naggiar Campaign Part ****10 The Impossible Defense**

"Let 'em have it!" shouted Edy. "Make those Imps pay!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" said Ted as he opened fire from his turret. A few of the approaching Imperials fell to the combined fire from his and Hector's turrets, prompting a hesitation in their advance.

"Keep it up you guys!" said Ramona as she fired a few rounds from her rifle, not caring if it made a difference or not. "We can do this!"

Edy rushed up next to her and fired her weapon out of the bunker's opening. _Every little bit helped, even if it didn't seem like it at the moment_. The one positive thing she noticed was that the bunker turrets were strong enough to go through the armor of the shield units. The bad part was that it didn't seemed to make much of a difference considering the sheep numbers advancing on them.

"Yo, Nadine! I need more ammo for my turret!" said Hector. "Running kind of low here!"

"Okay!" replied Nadine as she lugged over a box filled with turret rounds.

"Thanks!" said Hector as he opened up the turret and reloaded it. "We're going to be cutting this one really close if you ask me!"

"I've had worse," said Ramona as she continued to fire her weapon. "Although this doesn't rank very far behind..."

Marina silently continued to help Ted by keeping him supplied with ammo as there wasn't much else she could do. She recalled that a couple of Catherine's old war stories were similar to what she was experiencing right now. It didn't help that Catherine said that it was sheer luck that she had survived in those situations either. _Then again luck has been on Edy's side a lot. I hope it still is._

…

"Come on, get your asses in gear!" shouted Ty as he urged his troops forward. "This shouldn't take that long!"

"Sir, those turrets are shredding us," replied on of his soldiers. "We aren't going to get far at this rate."

"Grr..." _That sorry excuse for a bunker is the only thing standing between us and victory! _He took another look at the bunker's position and realized that taking it would not be as easy as he originally thought. The bunker itself rested atop a large trench that spanned a pretty long distance. A straight attack really was the only possible approach, and that wasn't working out all that well. It wouldn't matter in the end. There was no way those Gallian weaklings could keep this up. "Keep advancing! I want that bunker taken!"

…

Twenty minutes had passed and the Imperials were no closer to the bunker than before, giving Edy and the others a bit of hope.

"How's Eratria holding up Homer?" asked Edy as she reloaded her weapon.

"Um, she's doing okay I think," said Homer as he finished bandaging the woman up. "She hasn't said much really."

"I'll be fine," said Eratria as she began to put her uniform top back on. "Hurt's like hell, though. What about you girl? You actually keeping the Imperials at bay?"

Edy finished reloading her weapon before responding. "For now, yeah. As long as the turrets don't give out on us, we should be okay."

"Here's hoping we don't see their Valkyrian general either," added Ramona as she quickly looked out of the bunker space. "Huh? Hey, Sis is it just me or are they're backing off?"

"Yeah they're not advancing anymore," said Ted as he began to reload his turret. "You think they're giving up?"

"Not a chance," snapped Eratria as she finished getting her uniform on. "I know Ty well enough to know he's up to something." She took the Ragnaid capsule that was in Homer's possession and used it on herself. "The only question is what..."

…

"You've got to be kidding me!" growled Ty through his radio. "General Bles is heading this way? What for?"

"_Apparently she is displeased with the fact you have taken so much time and still not overrun the Gallians,_" replied Nonnenkof's voice. "_To be honest I'm surprised you haven't myself. You've only got an entire squad of the Empire's best troops with you after all._"

"They're being annoying, that's all. They've holed themselves in a bunker and they've got nowhere to go. It's only a matter of time before I overrun them," explained Ty.

"_Not anymore,_" said Nonnenkof. "_You are to hold your position until the General gets there. Is that clear?"_

"What?! After I'm this close to crushing them, I'm to sit on my ass now?"

"_You can try to keep them suppressed but you are to cease advancing on that bunker. Do not make me repeat myself. Understood?"_

"Fine," said Ty as he turned to his troops. "Fall back to the edge of the trench! I want all lancers to the front afterwords!"

…

"Hey, hey! They really are falling back!" said Ramona excitedly as she watched the Imperials apparent retreat. "They're giving up!"

"Impossible..." Eratria walked up next to her and looked through her binoculars. "...They're falling back, but they don't seem to be in a big hurry to do so. What is Ty up to?"

A few seconds later, Edy's radio sounded.

"_Nelson, can you read me?"_

"Captain? Yes I hear you!" said Edy. "Please tell me you have good news for us!"

The long silence that followed was a clear indication that the news was going to be anything but good. "_Our reports have confirmed that their Valkyria is headed towards your position. You need to hold your location as long as possible so that Lt. Gunther can __take that base!"_

"R-roger, Captain," said Edy as she clutched her weapon. "Damnit."

"Well, that explains why they're backing up," said Hector with a sigh. "So now we get to deal with a Valkyria huh? I have to say that's a pretty tall order."

"D-didn't you say you were going to fight her if she showed up Eratria?" asked Nadine.

"Yeah, you did say that," said Ramona as she glared at the woman. "Hope you can back up your words now."

"That was before I got shot numbskull," said Eratria as she angrily brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "I'd be doing well to fire my weapon with any kind of accuracy as things stand."

"Well, we just have to hope Welkin takes that base soon then," said Edy as she tried to keep everyone calm. "The plan was to get the Valkyria's attention after all."

"Well, now that we have it, what do we do?" asked Ted. "It's going to take one huge crowd-pleaser to pull this one off. I'm just saying."

Marina remained silent but even she had to admit Ted was right. Before she could think anymore on the topic a series of explosions resounded near the front of the bunker.

"What the hell?" asked Ramona. "Are we getting shelled or something?"

"Not by artillery, that's for sure," said Hector as another series or blasts hit the bunker. "Those are Lancer rounds."

"W-we'll be okay right?" asked Nadine. "This is a bunker after all..."

Eratria gave a loud sigh at Nadine's observation. "Sure if this bunker wasn't already have blown to pieces. To be honest I'm amazed this bunker hasn't already collapsed."

Another series of blasts hit the bunker's front side and this time chunks of concrete from the ceiling began to fall down on its occupants.

"Move Ted," said Marina as she nudged him aside and aimed her rifle at the now far away Imperial Lancers. _Lancers use blast armor, so maybe I can do something to these guys. Either way I've got to try._ She took quick aim at one and pulled the trigger. To her satisfaction, target was struck in the helmet and went down, unmoving. The other Lancers nearby quickly ducked behind the nearest sandbag or corner.

"Not bad Marina!" said Ted as the Sniper began to reload her weapon. "Let's give her some covering fire with the turrets Hector!"

"...Don't," said Marina as she took aim. "They're loud and I can't concentrate on my shots with those going off next to me. If want to help, use your rifle."

"Yeah, sure thing!" said Ted as he grabbed his rifle. "Wanna help Remmy?"

Ramona looked at Ted and nodded. "Sure thing 'Tedster'," she said, using Melville's nickname for him. She went to the opposite side of Marina and began shooting in the direction of the Lancers who were trying to take aim at the bunker.

Marina squeezed off another round and drilled another Lancer. Her accuracy combined with Ted and Ramona continuing to lay suppressing fire had caused the Imperial Lancers to stay in cover.

"I don't believe it..." muttered Eratria. _The daughter really is as good as her father was after all._ She went to help Ramona and Ted with keeping the Imperials pinned down. She winced after pulling the trigger, her weapon's kickback was clearly causing too much pain on her injury. "Damn it."

""What's up? Can't shoot?" asked Ramona as she watched Eratria duck back under the bunker's opening.

"Injury's too bad for me to use my rifle," said the older woman as she grabbed her abdomen in pain. "I'll reopen my wound if I keep trying to fire it."

Marina fired off another kill shot before looking at the two of them. "Maybe you should let Ramona use it then?"

"Think you can handle it, girl?" asked Eratria.

"O-of course!" said Ramona. "It's just a rifle after all!"

Eratria gave a small chuckle as she traded weapons with the model. "Try not to break a nail little girl."

"...I hate you," fumed Ramona as she grabbed Eratria's weapon. "Hate!" She muttered a few words of choice under her breath as she returned to her previous task. After squeezing the trigger Ramona had to back up a step in surprise from the kickback from the rifle.

"Problem?" asked Eratria as she watched Ramona's reaction with a degree of amusement.

"No!" Ramona huffed as she quickly recovered herself and began to fire the weapon once again- this time properly bracing herself. Her efforts paid off as the Lancer she was firing at knocked back a few steps. Marina took advantage of this and dispatched him with another perfect headshot.

…

"What's so hard about shooting a bunker?!" demanded Ty as he noticed his Lancer units were hesitating behind cover and not shooting at all.

"They've got a sniper holed up in that bunker Sir," said a nearby soldier nervously. "Our lancers can't get a shot off without getting picked off first!"

_This is why I wanted you with me Sytreet_, Ty thought to himself as he grabbed a nearby lancer's weapon. "I guess I have to do everything myself then." He stepped out and took aim at the bunker... Only to be immediately hit in the helmet by a sniper round. Luckily for him the bullet wasn't able to go through his helmet and he was able to get a shot off that went through the bunker's opening.

"That's how it's done," he said with a satisfied smile as he noticed the bunker's lack of return fire.

…

The inside of the bunker was now filled with smoke and debris and Edy found herself coughing quite a bit before she was able to get her bearings.

"Is everyone okay?" she called out. "Ramona? Homer?"

"Yeah, I'm here," said Ramona as she let out a few coughs.

"I'm okay too," answered Homer as he brushed himself off.

Edy looked around and saw that Ted was helping Marina to her feet and that Hector and Eratria were also returning to their feet. That left only Nadine unaccounted for.

"Hey Nadine where are you?" asked Hector as he tried to spot her through the smoke.

"O-over here," called out a rather weak voice near the back of the bunker. It was indeed Nadine's voice, who was sitting against the rear wall, clutching her midsection.

"Oh, man that looks really bad," said Hector as he knelt down next to her. He saw that she had a large piece of shrapnel lodged in her and was bleeding very badly.

"..." Eratria remained silent as she noted the severity of the injury. She had seen enough of those in the first war and they were almost always fatal.

Nadine grimaced in pain as she tried to move. Compounding the problem was the fact that the Imperials were free to continue to firing Lancer rounds at the bunker.

"That's way beyond my skill," said Homer as he looked over Nadine's injury. "We gotta get her out of here."

"We can't just abandon the bunker though!" said Ted. "Welkin hasn't taken that base yet and if we fall back, it's going to be the end of the show for us all!"

"But she's gunna die if she stays here!" argued Hector. "You can't be serious about letting her die!"

"I..." Edy tried to come up with a decision but an ominous humming sound from outside caught her's and everyone else's attention.

"Uh, Sis, I know you don't want to hear this now," said Ramona as she looked out of the bunker opening. "But their Valkyria just showed up."

"Oh, crap what do we do now?" asked Ted as he looked outside.

"Maybe Welkin is close to capturing the base," said Edy as she turned her radio on. "_Welkin, the Imperial Valkyria is at the bunker now! Pleeeease tell me you've captured the target point!"_

"_We've almost got it Edy,_" replied Welkin. "_Just hold out a little longer if you can. Keep that Valkyria's attention away from us as long as possible!"_

"_Okay Welkin! I'll do what I can here!"_ replied Edy. "Hector, you and Eratria get Nadine out of here! Everyone else, get ready for the show of the century!"

Hector nodded and picked up Nadine, careful not to make her injury any worse. Eratria followed behind, clutching her own injury with one hand and Ramona's rifle with the other. "Don't lose that girl!" she said to the model as she left with Hector.

"Well, now what? asked Ramona. "Got any Valkyria busting strategies Sis?"

"Um, not really?" Edy admitted as she manned one of the turrets. "We just gotta get her to stay focused on her for a little while. After that, well, let's hope we can run really fast."

"Well it's better than no plan," said Marina. "Let's-" Before she could say anything else, a loud and powerful energy blast smashed into the bunker, knocking everyone off their feet while the ceiling began to collapse even more.

"We gotta slow her down!" said Edy as she got back to her feet, and back on the turret not caring about the cement chunks stuck in her hair.

Ted manned the other turret and began firing upon Selvaria who was slowly advancing up the trench towards them. Every shot seemed to be pulled toward her shield and deflected away upon hitting it. Marina lined up a shot at the woman's head but the bullet that was fired also was pulled towards the shield and deflected away harmlessly.

"Aw that's so not fair!" cried Ramona as she fired at Selvaria with the same results at the others. "Rrr this is no good!"

Compounding the problem was the fact that there was a large number of Imperials advancing directly behind the Valkyria.

"Cmon, something's gotta work!" growled Edy as she kept firing upon Selvaria, with no change in results.

"Oh, crap she's charging up again!" said Ted as he watched Selvaria crouch down and power up her lance.

"Edy..." Marina trailed as she fired in vain to stop Selvaria.

"Get down guys!" shouted Edy as she turned towards the group. "She's-" She didn't finish her sentence as she saw a large blue blast of energy fire from the Valkyria's lance and stream straight at her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 1****8**** – The Naggiar Campaign Part 1****1** **All The Marbles**

Time seemed to simply stop for Edy as she saw the energy beam blaze towards her. Her mind wanted her to move but her body seemed rooted to the spot. Suddenly, she felt herself being tackled to the ground right before the beam reached her. She could feel the heat from the blast as it passed over her and slammed through the back of the bunker. This caused the top of the bunker to blow apart, sending chunks of concrete and debris everywhere.

Once the dust settled, Edy saw that Homer was lying on top of her and that it was he who saved her from the beam. She looked round and saw that the remainder of her group were all slowly getting to their feet.

"Oh man, how are supposed to deal with something like that?" asked Ramona as she shook off what debris she could.

"..." Marina couldn't keep her normal stoic face as she too realized how bad the situation was. She watched as Selvaria slowly and purposely marched closer and closer to the bunker remains with her soldiers close behind. She gripped her rifle tightly and gritted her teeth as she could do little more than wait.

Edy was out of ideas, options and time. The turrets were unusable now, and what little cover the bunker provided now wouldn't matter against the Valkyria. It wouldn't be long before Selvaria reached them, and then it would all be over.

"Well, I guess our show's about over huh guys?" asked Ted, doing his best to keep everyone's spirits up. "I was kinda hoping we'd be able to do another act together."

Ramona couldn't help but give a nervous laugh to this. "Yeah, I was kinda hoping to get to know Edy's new friends a little better."

Edy had to admit it was looking more and more like the end was upon her and the group. She fought as hard as she could up to this point but there was just no way to compete with a Valkyria. Or so she thought.

Another bright blast of blue energy screamed across the battlefield, blinding the group. But this one didn't come from Selvaria- rather it came from behind the bunker itself. The beam hit the soldiers behind Selvaria, instantly vaporizing the ones directly hit and scattering the other ones.

"What? Who did that?" asked Edy.

"Edy, look!" said Marina as she pointed behind the group. "It's Alicia!"

Edy looked behind her to see that it was indeed Alicia standing directly behind the ruined bunker. But it wasn't the usual Alicia that she was used to seeing. The Alicia staring down at them was glowing in the same way that Selvaria was and was holding a lance and shield of similar nature to hers as well.

"Holy smokes, she's a Valkyria!" said Ted. "We might stand a chance now!"

"But-but how?" asked Edy. "When did this happen?"

"Who cares?!" said Ramona as she watched Selvaria charge forward. She stopped several yards later as Alicia dashed through the bunker and straight towards her.

"_Edy we've taken the base!"_ Welkin's voice crackled over the radio. "_Are you still holding out in your position?"_

"Uh..." Edy struggled to answer properly as she watched Alicia and Selvaria begin to duel right in front of them. "We're here, but Alicia is fighting the enemy Valkyria."

"_Did I hear that right?!"_ asked Welkin, clearly not believing her.

"Um, yes you did?" said Edy hesitantly. "She's a Valkyria too now. You...you didn't know that?"

"_How could I?_" responded Welkin. "_She was lying in a bed earlier today! How could this be happening?"_

"I don't know what else to tell you Welkin," said Edy as she watched Alicia dodge a lance thrust before sending another beam of energy at a group of nearby Imperial soldiers. "But she's holding her own for now, though I'm not sure how long it'll last with the other Imp soldiers trying to take her down too."

A few suspensefully long moments passed by before Welkin replied. "_Help her if you can Edy, but don't get too close to her- there's no way of knowing if she'll attack you too. If...if things get too bad get you and team out of there, understood?_"

"O-okay Welkin, I'll do what I can," said Edy as she tried to figure out a course of action.

"What now, Sis?" asked Ramona as the grouped watched the ongoing Valkyria duel. "Do you really think Alicia would...kill us?"

"I don't know Ramona," said Edy as she pet a fresh clip into her weapon and new canister into her Flame Flail. "But I'm not going to let her fight alone."

"Whoa, waitasec, you're going out there by yourself?" asked Ted. "That's not funny!"

Edy gave him and the rest of her group her best smile and nodded. "I'll have you guys backing me up here; so there's nothing to worry about right?"

"No, no no! You're going to get killed out there!" said Ramona as she tried to fight back tears as she realized that Edy was dead set on this course of action. "I know you want to help but there has to be another way!"

Edy gave her a tight hug and held her as she spoke. "It'll all work out, don't worry." Letting her go, she took a deep breath and then looked at Homer. "Okay, you all know what to do. Keep everyone safe Homer, dear. Not a scratch, you hear?"

"Okay Edy," said Homer. He knew that determined look on her face and that it was pointless to convince her to abandon her plan. "Just... be careful okay?"

"Oh ho ho! It's going to take more than a Valkyria and a few Imps to stop Edy Nelson!" She turned around and faced the ongoing duel.

"Good luck Edy," said Marina as she readied her rifle for use again.

Taking a deep breath, Edy leaped over the bunker and ran towards the soldiers that were regrouping to assist Selvaria. She could feel her heart beating hard and fast inside her chest and the lingering feeling of fear began to creep up inside her as she neared the soldiers. _No! I wont back down! I, Edy Nelson, will do it; will give it my all!_

There were at least a dozen soldiers that she was charging at, almost all of them firing at her but it didn't matter. She opened fire when she was in range as she felt a few rifle rounds deflect off of her armor plates. Her main target went down immediately and the shocktrooper next to him suddenly went down from a sniper round. _Good job Marina! _She could hear the rest of her Detachment firing behind her, doing their best to support her amid the clanging of ragnite on ragnite. Once she had emptied her clip, Edy activated her Flame Flail. The large gout of flame quickly immolated the entire group of soldiers in front of her. The effect was better than she had hoped, with the affected soldiers screaming and rolling on the ground and the ones who weren't began to scatter and turn tail, leaving Selvaria to fend for herself.

"Do not fall back! You call yourselves soldier of the Empire?!" shouted Selvaria as she struggled to fend off Alicia, who had begun to gain the upper hand as more and more of Selvaria's soldiers began to abandon her. Her shouts were falling upon deaf ears as the Edy Detachment had effectively routed the surprisingly small attack force that Selvaria had brought with her.

"Yeah, go Edy!" shouted Ramona as she watched her friend continue her offensive just a few yards away from the dueling Valkyrias. The few Imperials who did try to stay and fight wound up either shot up or set on fire by Edy, or have a sniper round put into their skull courtesy of Marina.

"Do I have to do everything myself?!" fumed a loud and angry voice from the trench where the Imperials had retreated into. Edy's heart sank into her stomach as she saw Ty the Immortal appear and promptly fire an Imperial Anti-tank lance round at her. Edy had no time to react and the round struck her square in the stomach. Luckily the round itself didn't explode, but it knocked the wind out of her, sending Edy to her knees.

"A dud?! You gotta be kidding me!" Ty threw down the lance and grabbed two nearby shocktroopers' weapons and rushed out of the trench in order to dispatch himself of the annoying Gallian pest.

"_Edy, get up!"_ Ramona screamed over the radio. "_That Ty Imperial guy is going to kill you if you don't!"_

Edy coughed and tried to stand but couldn't. Ty was getting ever closer and she knew it, but she needed more time to recover.

Ty made his way over to Edy, despite being peppered with both rifle rounds and sniper rounds, with neither having any visible effect on him.

Ramona desperately tried to come up with an idea to help Edy, but there was no way to reach her in time, and even with Eratria's rifle she couldn't do anything to Ty the Immortal. It was then that she noticed that there was a grenade loaded onto some kind of device on the bottom of the rifle. _What is this? Some kind of grenade shooter thing?_ It was better than nothing, even if she had no way knowing how the hell to aim it properly. She aimed it roughly in the area between Edy and Ty and fired the grenade, praying it would give Edy an opportunity to recover.

Ty stopped has he felt something go _clunk_ against his helmet. "What the-?" he looked down in time to see the grenade that Ramona had fired suddenly detonate in front of him. "Arg!" The shrapnel from the grenade might not have had much of an effect on him, but the flash from the explosion managed to blind him temporarily. As he staggered around, Edy was able to recover and shakily rose to her feet.

"Yeah, I did it!" cheered Ramona as she watched Edy stand up and Ty stagger about. "Now Edy can-" She suddenly felt lightheaded and very dizzy. "H-hey Homer, I think I'm..." She didn't finish her sentence as she collapsed on the ground.

"Whoa, what happened?" asked Ted as he along with Homer rushed over to her. "D-did she get shot or?"

"The sniper?" asked Marina as she quickly scanned the far trench for any signs of one.

"No signs of a gunshot," said Homer as he checked over Ramona. "She's breathing and there's a pulse. I think she just passed out. Maybe she hadn't fully recovered from her previous injuries or something like that?"

"Well what do we do?" asked Ted. "Should we tell Edy?"

"Don't," said Marina as she fired another shot at Ty, knowing it wouldn't have any effect. "She has enough on her mind as it is. The last thing she needs is another distraction."

"I agree," said Homer as he tried to rouse Ramona awake with no success. "I'll make sure Miss Ramona is safe- just keep trying to help Edy."

...

_That hurt..._ Edy clutched at her stomach with her left hand while holding her weapon with her right. She watched as Ty began firing blindly in front of him as his vision was still blinded. She circled behind him and triggered her Flame Flail, lighting his entire backside on fire. Ty responded by roaring in anger and wheeling around to face her.

"Oh, crap," said Edy as she saw him point both of his weapons at her. She took off running towards the two nearby dueling Valkyria in hopes that it would somehow help her situation despite the fact that either one of them could kill her in an instant. Luckily for her, doing so did indeed help as the rounds fired at her were drawn towards the shields of Alicia and Selvaria, where they were then deflected harmlessly away.

"Enough of this!" boomed Ty as he tossed his guns aside and pulled out his fireaxes, which were still bloody from their earlier victim. Edy had inadvertently backed herself into a corner when she ran the way she did, and found herself backing against the far trench wall with Ty approaching her. To say that the sight of a heavily armored shocktrooper that was nearly twice her size angrily approaching her with two large axes was intimidating to Edy would be putting it mildly. It scared her to death- Ty was even bigger than the Imperial that nearly did her in before.

She watched as Ty charged at her and dodged out of the way as he buried one axe deep into the trench where Edy's head was a moment ago.

"OhGodOhGodOhGod," gasped Edy as she tried to run back out of the trench while trying to reload her weapon. She didn't get very far as Ty grabbed her from behind and tossed her back into the trench. Edy bounced and rolled until she collided with the trench wall, dropping her weapon in the process. Edy got to her knees and spotted it and tried to scramble for it only to have it nearly cleaved in half by Ty's axe when it was at her fingertips.

"I'm finally going to rid myself of your annoying presence," growled Ty as he stood over Edy, pinning her with his foot while holding an axe in his right hand only, as the other one was still embedded in the trench wall where he had missed Edy previously. "You caused me a lot of headache girl; now it's time to put an end to it!"

Edy was running out of options and chose a desperate option. She grabbed a Flame Flail canister and heaved it at Ty, who caught it with his left hand. He began laughing and held it up. "What is this toy for?" he asked Edy and he applied more weight on her.

"It's... fuel!" gasped Edy as she turned on her radio as she tried to free herself. "Better be careful with that- it might **explode **if it gets **shot**..."

..._Understood_," Marina's voice sounded over the radio.

"Why would you tell me that?" asked Ty a moment before a sniper round struck the canister and subsequently detonated it. The blast sent him staggering and off of Edy, who took the opportunity to yank Ty's other axe off of the trench wall. She saw that Ty was still shaken up from the blast and so she flipped the axe around so that the small narrow pointy end was facing outward. She then used all her strength to swing it at Ty's faceplate, sending it through one of the spaces used for vision.

Ty let out a bloodcurdling howl as he fell to his knees grabbed at the axe but was unable to dislodge it from his helmet and whatever it had struck underneath. Edy could see that blood had begun to come out of the helmet and realized that she had probably seriously injured Ty.

"_Edy, Alicia beat the Imperial Valkyria!_" Ted's voice sounded over the radio. "_But _n_ow she's gone off and started attacking other Imperial forces!"_

"Um,o-okay," said Edy as she backed away from the still howling Ty. "Welkin, Captain, did you hear that? What should I do?"

"_Don't try to go after Alicia," _Welkin voice responded. "_It's too dangerous and there's still no way to know how she'll react."_

Varrot responded next. "_Nelson, the Imperial lines have started to break now that their Valkyria has been incapacitated. You should get you and your team out of there and fall back to the main encampment._"

"Does that mean we completed our mission?" asked Edy.

"_It does indeed. Now fall back and let the Army take care of the rest._"

"Yes Ma'am!" said Edy with a sigh of relief. "You heard her guys, get going! I'll be right behind you."

"Yeah, we did it!" said Ted as he gave Homer an impromptu high-five. He then tried to give Marina one but was left hanging after seeing an icy glare from her eye. Marina turned around and let a satisfied smile escape her lips.

"I can't lift Miss Ramona..." trailed Homer as he struggled to do so.

"Leave it to me!" said Ted as he quickly picked up Edy's best friend in his arms. "Totally swept her off her feet! Betcha you're jealous huh Marina?"

"..." Marina stayed silent as she climbed our of the bunker and began running back towards the base.

"She's so totally jealous," smirked Ted as he carried Ramona out of the bunker. "She digs me."

"Um, yeah, sure," said Homer as he followed Ted. He looked back to see that Edy had picked up one Ty's discarded ZM MP machine guns. _What's she going to do?_

Edy slowly walked up to Selvaria's unconscious form and pointed the weapon at her head. _She's killed a lot of us since this war started. I...I should get rid of her now while I have the chance!_ She looked down at the Imperial General for a minute before lowering her weapon. _I can't do it! I've done some pretty bad stuff before, but this would be a new low. I, Edy Nelson would never commit such a vile act!_

She turned to leave but then spotted Ty suddenly charge out of the bunker. "You can't be serious!"

Ty had managed to remove the axe from his visor and judging from the amount of blood on the axe itself, his left eye as well.

Edy knew that in this situation, with no grenades and armed with an unfamiliar weapon there was only one option left to her. Run like hell. She knew that if he caught her she would be killed, no question about it. She leaped into the bunker and around the debris inside as deftly as possible, not wanting to trip over anything. She heard Ty land inside the bunker soon after she did and wasted no time in getting through and out of the bunker. She wasn't far from the bunker when she turned to see Ty exit the bunker and listened as he let out a furious shout.

"Hey Marina, think you can help me out?" panted Edy as she tried to stay ahead of Ty.

There was a brief moment of silence as Marina contemplated the question. Edy was several hundred yards away as it was, with a stiff breeze blowing across the battlefield as well. It would be an incredibly difficult shot for Catherine, let alone her. Missing the shot might result in Edy being the recipient of the round, but not taking it would mean her death regardless.

"Keep running Edy," commanded Marina as she tried to line up a shot. "Try to run in a straight a line as possible." Looking through her scope she saw that Edy was pretty banged up from the fighting that she had been involved in. The Imperial chasing her looked like his helmet was damaged around the visor area, meaning that a head shot was possible. The only problem was that attempting one meant she had to fire the shot uncomfortably close to Edy.

She thought back to the advice her father gave her and took several slow deep breaths to calm her nerves and get herself focused. She could feel time start to slow down for her as she began zoning in on her shot. The wind was going to cause the shot to deviate to the left so she aimed just off of Edy's right eye. Now to time the shot right...

_Crack!_ Marina watched as the round whistled towards Edy. The wind affected the shot as Marina had calculated and it grazed Edy's right cheek and through her let-down hair, splitting it as it passed through. The shot continued toward the Imperial and struck the visor, penetrating it.

Ty stopped in his tracks for a moment before falling backwards, unmoving. Marina was unsure if the shot truly killed her target, but she wasn't about to check either. Making sure that Edy made it to safety was more important. Once Edy had reached her, Marina gave her leader a nod.

"I got him," she said.

"I knew you would," replied Edy as the two made their way to the main base where the rest of her Detachment was waiting for her. Ramona had since regained consciousness and was sitting on the ground with Homer tending to her.

"Hey, Sis," said Ramona as Edy plopped on the ground next to her., whilst dragging Homer to the ground with her. "You know, we'd better get a medal or something for doing this. I'm just saying."

"The way I feel right now, a hot bath would be good enough," sighed Edy as she rested on Homer's lap.

"We did succeed," noted Marina as she stood over the three. "I'm glad."

"Aw c'mon Marina, show some more enthusiasm," said Ted as he put his arm around her shoulders. "It wouldn't kill you to show some emotion you know!"

Marina responded by sending Ted to the sand, face-first. "It might kill you though."

"Aw, looks like the joke's on me..." sighed Ted.


End file.
